Legend of the Chronogan Jinchuuriki
by Beowulf the Novelborn
Summary: "I'll keep it simple. I wake up with no memories, and nothing but the clothes I wore and a platinum solar eclipse headband. This is the story of me, Miki. I must discover my purpose, and uncover the secrets of two indescribable powers locked inside of me. Nothing is going to stop this shinobi."
1. Chapter 1: Who

Legend of the Chronogan

Chapter 1: Who?

My eyes opened and I snapped upright. _Where am I? _I thought.

While the geographical answer remained a mystery, the setting was a grassy field in the middle of a forest. Judging by the color of the sky, I could tell that the sun was rising off to my left. That meant that north was behind me.

I looked down at myself. I had light color skin (really wish that I could have developed a better tan) and I wore a pair of black long pants, running shoes, and a white Tee. Not bad, but I guess it could be better. As I rested on my right hand, I touched something cold and metallic. I looked to see a headband, that of a shinobi. I found it strange that I knew such things like the term shinobi. As far as I know, I've never heard of it before. Right?

This head band was black, already tied tight enough to slip on with ease. On the metal band was a simple insignia of a full moon overlapping the sun, a solar eclipse. I didn't know what it meant. I mean I knew that head bands signify a shinobi's allegiance, but I was unfamiliar with any of the villages.

It didn't make any sense to me why I knew all of this. But after all that, the bigger question came to mind: who was I? I knew nothing about myself other than the headband. That's all that I was for the moment. But that headband. I could only assume that it belonged to me. Maybe I was a shinobi myself. I had to learn more.

That was all that mattered.

I put on a robe that I found on the ground beside me. It was navy blue with a silver hood, and I must say that it looked very nice indeed. There was a road nearby and I traveled due south, away from the mountains. It's likely that there would be a town somewhere near the bottom of the valley. Sure enough, there was a small town with a lot of people buzzing about. Maybe they could help.

As I entered, it was clear that this place was too small to be a shinobi village. The people talked politics (lame), some group called the Akatsuki (yawn), a solar eclipse (not important at the moment). But after walking for some time, I came across a blacksmith shop. The sign outside showed a wide display of weapons and my items of interest: headbands. So I knocked on the workshop door.

"Come in", a voice said and I entered. A burly man was in the middle of cooling off a large two handed sword when I came in. He looked up to see me.

"Hey, don't think I've seen you around here. You new here?"

"I'm just passing through", I spoke for the first time. _Perfectly pitched voice, I like._

"Listen, you make headbands right? I was wondering what you can tell me about this one." I pulled out my headband and he carefully looked it over. He scrubbed the surface of the metal with his cleaned hands and raised his eyebrows.

"This is no ordinary headband. Ordinary shinobi headbands are made of iron, but this….oh, this one is solid platinum! This thing is worth a fortune!"

"Thanks, but I'm not interested in selling. What else can you tell me about it? What village is it from?" The blacksmith walked over to a desk which unfolded to reveal at least a dozen band molds with symbols from each village.

"I get orders for headbands from every village from the Hidden Leaf to the Hidden Sound, and not once have I ever seen that design. Sorry I couldn't be of any service to you kid."

"No, no. That's some very important information and I thank you for that. But for now I have to go."

I turned to leave, but the man stopped me. "The roads have had an increased number of bandits as of late and you look a little light on weapons. You'll need this." He tossed me a kunai with a leather sheath. This kunai was silver in color as opposed to the usual black. "That kunai is made of titanium. Don't lose it because you're only getting one for free."

I clutched the knife in surprise, "Free of charge? Really?"

The man brushed it off, "It's nothing really. I've had a surplus of those for the past month. And one last thing. The headband you found belongs to a guy named Miki. It was inscribed on the back of the band. Good luck out there kid."

And with that, I left. Miki. So that was my name, assuming that this band really was mine. Regardless, of whether it was, I decided to keep the name until anything new came up. Even if it is only a name, it was the official start of my life, however new it may be. It was time to live it all to the fullest.

(Hidden Leaf Village)

Tsunade barely got any sleep last night.

For as long as she lived, she had witnessed two solar eclipses. Both times brought misfortune. She hoped that she would never have to see a third. Fate had a terrible sense of humor. She witnessed her third just had the Ambu stationed outside of the city just in case. But nothing came…yet.

Out of frustration, she reached for a bottle of sake from under her desk. Shizune closed the drawer on her and locked it.

"Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't be drinking until your paperwork is complete."

"You can forget the paperwork. I need something to calm my nerves."

"Is it the solar eclipse?"Shizune asked and Tsunade nodded in reply.

"I can't help but feel that something terrible is about to happen, I can feel it. And with the Naruto situation and recent Akatsuki movement, it only adds to anticipation. Any reports from Ambu?"

"No activity as of late. I understand that you feel nervous, but right now we are officially in the clear for a little while."

"Aw, come on!" a very familiar voice complained as a bird in the window changed into Naruto Uzumaki in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto! I told you to stop listening in on our conversations!"

"Give me a break, Grandma. Part of me wants to be out there giving the Akatsuki a beat down for what they did!" Naruto beat his knuckles into an open palm.

"Naruto, we can't allow you to fight them unless there is no other choice. We have that choice. So for now, you stay in the village."

(Outside of the Hidden Leaf)

It has been roughly a day since I woke up in the forest, and thus far I've discovered my chakra natures: lightning and wind. A storm combination, as I liked to call it. Turning my chakra into one of the two was becoming easy. And my chakra control was astronomical. If I did have a life before this, perhaps my training never left. Maybe it stayed somewhere in the recesses of my mind.

As I walked on, I began to think about where I should settle down. What village would I make my home in? It wasn't long before I ran into more people. This time, there were 5 shinobi, jonin level by the looks of them, who were teaching a group of young ninja in proper jutsus. I made sure to stay out of sight as I watched and learned.

I noticed that each of the five possessed a different chakra nature; one fire, one lightning, one water, one earth, and one wind. I began watching a guy with spikey white hair, and a mask over his mouth and nose. His head band was pulled down over his left eye.

"Alright kids. This is a relatively easy exercise. I want all of you to focus your chakra into your hands, keep it there, and think of your chakra as a bolt of lightning." The students far below clenched their fists and tensed up as they tried to do it and eventually they all did it, some significantly faster than the others. It seemed easy enough so I followed suit. Electricity flowed down my arms like tesla coils.

"Very good. Now I want each of you to find a place to fire off that chakra into a lightning strike. You all know what to do, and make sure that no one gets caught in the crossfire. Understood?"

"Yes, Kikashi sensei!" they all saluted and leapt off into the trees to find suitable testing grounds.

Kikashi sighed. "I hope those guys won't cause any trouble", he said, pulling out a copy of Jiraiya's "Make-out Tactics" book 2. By this point he had read over it several times, but he simply couldn't help himself.

"Well, it's nice to be back in the business with my old rival!" a man with a black bowl cut and bushy eyebrows gave Kikashi a thumbs up.

"It makes me get the sense that we're both getting old too fast, Guy", Kikashi said quietly as he read.

"Kikashi my partner! How could you say such a thing?! It is in this line of work that our youth regains its golden glory!" he points dramatically at the horizon with a gleam in his eyes.

Kikashi smiled behind his mask, "It's nice to know that you still haven't changed from childhood days. It'd be rather dull around here without you around."

"Hey you!" a voice behind me said. A young ninja with brown hair and a long blue scarf was standing upside down from the tree above me, "You're not supposed to be here! You're band isn't that of the Leaf!"

I lowered my band and tied it around my neck, the unfolded hood covering up the moon insignia, "Sorry kid, but I've got nowhere else to go, so I'm afraid that I'm sticking around for a little while", I turned to walk away.

"Hey! Don't you turn your back on me, intruder! I'm Konahomeru! Future seventh Hokage of the Leaf! Rasengan!" I barely had time to dodge a flying Konahomeru with a spiraling ball of energy in his hand.

"Whoa!" I yelped. _This kid isn't messing, around! He's actually trying to kill me!_

"Dang it, kid! I don't have time to deal with a pest like you! Lightning Style: Thunder Mine Jutsu!" A bolt of lightning came down from the clear sky and struck me. But instead of hurting me, the bolt sent a lightning filled shockwave that hit everything within a fifteen foot radius of me. Konahomeru was sent flying back into the bushes.

Strange, I overshot that attack and I didn't even feel the strain. It was as though I hadn't lost any chakra myself. I must have a higher supply than I thought.

But I thought back on what that Konahomeru kid said. The Hidden Leaf Village. I took out a map that I picked up in another town. I still had no idea where I was before but then I spotted the Leaf on the map. It was the capitol of the Land of Fire and was a peaceful village. That kid could have fooled me.

"I'll probably be taking a more permanent vacation here." I took to the trees and bounded off around the ninjas.

_ (With Kikashi)_

_CRACK-KABOOM!_

Kikashi jerked up at the sound of a lightning bolt striking the ground nearby.

"Sounds like one of our students is a Thunderhead!" Guy looked up surprised.

"That was one heck of a chakra release", Kikashi said concerned, "I'll get over there and make sure that he or she doesn't overdo it." He bookmarked his page and walked past the thick grove of bushes.

His eye widened, "Good Kami!" he quietly gasped as he saw the utter destruction of the lightning jutsu. Two nearby trees were scorched on one side and the ground had been turned into a thirty foot wide crater. Kikashi lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan. The affected area was practically littered with a demonic chakra that appeared red in Kikashi's eyes. _This power, it's reminiscent to that of the Nine Tails. A jinchuuriki perhaps. Can't be Naruto, neither he nor the Nine Tails has lightning based chakra. _

The bushes rustled as a bewildered Konahomeru stepped out, his face covered in ashes and soot.

"Konahomeru! What happened here?" Kikashi asked sternly.

Konahomeru looked to him and then began to panic, "Forgive me Kikashi sensei!" he pleaded, "I lost him!"

"I don't care about that right now. Who exactly did you lose?"

"There was this guy, about Naruto's age who was watching the lessons and following the instructions you were giving. He had silver hair and sky blue eyes, and he wore a blue and silver robe. Pretty sweet design if you ask me. And he wore black long pants with some odd pair of sandals. He was a shinobi with an odd looking head band tied around his neck with a full moon insignia. He's not from the Leaf!"

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. I challenged him and he used this weird lightning style jutsu! I think it was called the Thunder Mine Jutsu." Kikashi had never heard of said jutsu before.

"Had I not known any better I would have suspected that this was one of Naruto's jutsus. This is typically how his new 'techniques' turn out at first. Konahomeru, I want you to return to the village at once and inform the Hokage. Do not distort the message. You are dismissed from class for today."

"Rodger that, Kikashi sensei!" the young genin saluted as he darted in the direction of the Leaf.


	2. Chapter 2: Where

Chapter 2: Where?

I had been traveling for the past thirty minutes and still there was no sign of the village yet. My eyes were glued to the map as I tried to discern any landmarks that could point me in the right direction. My eyes did not deter from the map. But then my right foot slipped and I nearly fell over the edge of a cliff face!

I yelped as I secured myself to the ground using some chakra lines. Pulling myself back I yelled, "How the heck did I get myself up here?!" I could have sworn that I was on a path to the main gates of the Leaf. Yet I wound up on top of this mountain. Before another thought entered my head, I looked down to see a large village that was far below this cliff. On the side of the mountain, five faces were carved out. I presumed that they were the five Hokage.

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about! Hello Hidden Leaf!" With that, I ran down the side of the cliff.

The first thing that came to mind was supplies. I needed all the tools I could get if I was going to be a ninja. There was a rather large shop down the road that fit the bill. A guy wearing a fur jacket, walking beside his dog stepped out as I entered.

"Come back any time, Kiba!" a girl's voice called out from inside. The bell jingled as I looked into a mother lode of weapons. There were swords of every make, sickles, kunai, shirukens, and countless scrolls. A girl my age came out of the back carrying a massive stack of boxes. One of the scrolls she stacked up on top of the pile rolled off in the front where she couldn't see. and before I could warn her, she slipped and the boxes fell. "Whoa!" I said as I spread out a system of chakra lines that caught the boxes like trampoline.

"Are you okay?" I said running over to help the girl up. She was slim but athletic, and wore a pink sleeveless shirt with black pants and shinobi sandals. Her brown hair was tied into two buns.

She sighed with relief, "Thank Kami you got those boxes!that could have been really messy! Thank you so much!" she bowed, "My name is Tenten. I'm just holding down the fort until my father comes back."

"I'm Miki. Pleasure to meet you. It was nothing really."

"Come on, there has to be some way I can repay you. I know just the thing!" she walked behind the counter and searched the shelves. Then she pulled out a single scroll which unrolled and turned stiff like a checker board.

"This is a new model of storage scroll that my father developed. It rolls up and unrolls when it reacts to chakra. Now we've even developed a method of allowing the user to enter and exit the scroll at will, so as to do more complex organization of supplies. So in a way, you can basically _live_ in one of these. I'll help you get oriented. Just follow my lead." She made a single hand sign and stored herself in the scroll.

I followed suit and reappeared in a vast, white landscape, completely void of detail.

"Impressive!" my voice echoed in the distance, "This place is huge!"

"This is the largest space I could find in our stocks. You can store anything you want in here, so long as it doesn't exceed the individual size limit. I know what you're going to say next. This place looks boring. Well I have a solution." She pulled out a pen. "This pen reacts with a person's chakra and in return, can allow the user to make any changes that he or she sees fit. You can undo any mistake, or further organize your storage system using this. It's a trick that my friend Sai developed. But remember, anything you create with that pen can't be summoned out of the scroll." With that she handed me the pen.

"Look, I appreciate this but are you sure that you're not being a little over the top with this? I mean, all I did was catch a couple of boxes"

"Had those boxes hit the floor we would both be dead right now, two of those boxes were jam packed with paper bombs!" The hair on the back of my head stood on end from hearing this. "They could have ruined my father's business if you hadn't caught them. Besides, we have plenty of scrolls like this to go around." A single hand sign from her brought us both out of the scroll. Apparently the pen stayed inside.

"If there is anything I can do for you, stop by at any time!" the water bottle sized scroll snapped shut in my hands. "I'll be back soon enough", I promised her as I said goodbye and stepped out of the shop.

(Uchiha Residence)

Even though I could basically sleep inside of the scroll, I needed to find a place where I could set up base, somewhere in the town preferably. After some searching, I noticed a place, an entire section of the town that was run down, and abandoned. A clan label was on a sign near the entrance.

"Uchiha", I muttered to myself. I approached the main house and the boards creaked quietly as I stepped. I opened the door to see that the estate was indeed abandoned, but in surprisingly good shape. It was almost as though the Uchiha just vanished into thin air. This would do for now. So I began to explore. Then I turned a corner and saw movement right in front of me. I quickly drew my kunai and prepared to fight the guy who stood in front of me.

"Hey, I…" I started, but I saw that this guys was making my movements. It was just a mirror. I know it may sound dumb that I fell for such a thing, but frankly I've never seen my own reflection before. I looked about seventeen years old, and was five foot eleven. My hair was long and silver, and my eyes were an icy blue. All and all, not bad. this place would become my temporary base of operations for the time being.

(Streets of the Leaf)

Next order of business: food. I haven't eaten since I woke up. How on earth was I going to get the money I needed? My answer came when I overheard two shinobi who were my age, one with a spikey pineapple head, and one dressed in red armor eating a bag of chips, Land of Fire Blaze flavor. A third party quickly rushed in. It was the guy I saw walking out of the shop just a little while ago with his dog.

"Guys! Big news from Akamaru! The boars are back! He's never seen a heard that big before!" "Really?!" the big red guy said then he exploded in delight, "Oh yeah! We're gonna have barbequed pork tonight! Say not another word, Kiba! I'm all in! How 'bout you Shikamaru?" Shikamaru stopped to think about this, then he smirked. "Alright, but with Ino busy we won't be able to pull off the Ino-Shika-Cho like we usually do. We'll need a new plan of attack to take out some of the herd, and the head bull boar at that. Those tusks are worth a fortune." I licked my lips in anticipation. But I shivered when I realized just how creepy that was. Something inside me just clicked. I can't explain what. I wanted to be part of this hunt.

(Seven miles southeast of the Hidden Leaf Village)

It was out in a large clearing by the foot of a mountain. This was where they were going to meet. I knew it was the case because of that big dog was watching the mountain pass. That dog, Akamaru I believe, was the same dog that I saw with that Kiba character a little while ago.

I just want to clarify that I was not going to ruin their hunt. All I wanted was to pick off a few of the beasts that they missed. There would be no possible way that a group of three shinobi and a dog could round up the entire herd, especially one as big as Kiba described.

The dog barked once it smelled its master approaching with his companions. This time, one more member was with them. She was a girl just shorter than me, who wore a dark red shirt, and had rosy pink hair and green eyes. She was kind of cute if you ask me.

"Akamaru says that they have yet to make their first pass", Kiba said. Odd thing was that I already understood the dog, I don't know why, I just understood him.

Shikamaru bent down and surveyed the soil. He tapped on the ground with his knuckle and held his ear to the ground. Then he smiled. "It's perfect. You shouldn't have any trouble, Sakura."

"Look, remind me why she's joining us this time", Choji said finishing off his bag of chips, "It's not like I have a problem with it or anything, but she's never been on one of these exploits."

"Well for starters", Sakura spoke up with crossed arms, "I haven't been able to go on any missions lately and I'm running low on cash. Besides, I have the same skill set as Ino does, only I played a part in teaching it to her."

"Let's not forget that Sakura had recently specialized in the Hidden Mole jutsu," Shikamaru continued, "Using that, we can trap a large part of the herd, or at least control where they run."

"I at least would feel a lot better if we had Hinata with us", Choji commented.

"I already tried to bring her along once, and she panicked", Kiba corrected.

Akamaru howled from his perch on the cliff and Kiba went wide eyed. "What?! There's two bull boars heading the group?!"

I smiled. That bull was mine!

"Alright guys, you know what to do. Once they round that bend in the path, initiate Sheepdog. I'll command the procedures from there. Let's go!" they all warped to their positions.

All was silent for the next minute. My heart was beating fast. I felt ecstatic, far more so than I should have been.

But I could hear a voice inside my head, an ancient grumbling voice. _"Yes, let your instincts flow through you. Manipulate it as you would a sword!"_

I didn't know where it came from. I noticed the pebbled on the ground shaking as the ground trembled beneath them. Suddenly, a swarm of boars the size of small bears burst through the forest, all of them were dark brown. The only exception was a grizzly sized black boar with mammoth tusks that led the stampede. There was at least a hundred and fifty in this swarm alone.

"Beast Mimicry! Fang over Fang!" Kiba called as two twisters circled around the boars at high speeds.

A pair of paper bombs blew up a portion of the cliff, trapping a few of the small ones. But the bull boar and at least two thirds of the remaining group raged on.

"Human Boulder!" Choji rolled up into a ball and collided head on with the bull boar, both stopping in their tracks. Choji spun on trying to gain traction, while the boar struggled to keep this mass of ninja off of it.

A shadow shot out from beneath Shikamaru and started to strangle the boar, holding it in place. Sakura burst out of the ground with the Hidden Mole jutsu and slammed the boar square beneath its jaw. I could feel the force of that punch from where I stood, and the boar was slammed up against the mountain, and it never got up. Kiba and Akamaru finished off all the boars caught in the landslide.

"Alright!" Choji cheered. But I knew it wasn't over yet. Kiba said that there were _two_ bull boars in the group. Where was the second? This didn't seem to occur to them at the time, because the herd slowed down and did a complete volt-face back to the shinobi!

"What the heck? They're coming back!" Sakura exclaimed.

"This is bad", Shikamaru said, "Once the bull is killed, the heard scatters. Why are they all still organized?!" This was not a part of his plan. But I understood. And the shinobi were so surprised that they didn't see the second bull rounding the bend with its own separate herd! The boars in the front were backtracking to join up with the second herd, and now the Shinobi were trapped between them!

That feeling in my chest doubled. This was my time to shine. "_That's right pup. Taste the thrill of the hunt and I will lend you my strength!"_ I couldn't hold it in any longer. The shinobi below finally saw the oncoming heard behind them and they realized their predicament. Suddenly an inhuman howl erupted from my lungs. I zipped across the ground with blinding speeds and a set of six-inch metal claws sprang from my fingertips.

I could feel a new chakra flowing through me, much stronger than my own. The shinobi looked to me in shock as I came out of nowhere to challenge the bull. With a wicked sounding laugh I dove beside the beast and slashed at its heart. It tumbled to a stop and both herds scattered.

Then I came back to my senses. I realized just how freaky my actions were, that bloodlust, my claws, this…hunger. The claws retracted somehow completely hiding themselves. I couldn't understand this. What the heck came over me?

I shook it off for now as I fixed my headband. And walked back to claim my prize. I then stored the bull in my scroll and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Kiba barked at me, "Who the heck do you think you are interrupting our hunt like that?!"

"Hold it Kiba", Choji stopped him, "He saved us from that second herd. The least we can do is thank him."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "That headband. This guy isn't from the Leaf, I would have heard of him sooner if he was. You there! State your name!"

I looked back at them but didn't say a word for at least ten seconds. "No one." I finally said as I disappeared into the trees.

(Ichiraku Ramen)

I walked out into the street with my boar sold for top price and my much smaller cash scroll, which I store my newfound money in like a wallet. I had decided to get some food at this awesome restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen. That was my first meal that I remember having.

"Say" the owner's daughter asked from behind the counter, "Are you new here?"

I nodded. The girl's nametag said, "Ayame." I looked over the menu and said, "I'll take the beef bowl."

"Good choice!" a guy walking in caught my attention. He was wearing an orange and black jumpsuit. His hair was spikey blonde, his eyes were blue like mine, and he had what looked like whiskers on his cheeks. "Beef is always the best flavor available."

"Hey! There's our favorite customer!" the owner grinned, "How you been, Naruto?"

"Eh, Grandma Tsunade's not letting me get out on any missions lately. But I'll get out there soon enough."

"Perhaps a bowl of our latest edition to the menu will cheer you up?" Ayame chided in a sing song voice.

Naruto's grin spread out a mile wide and he put his hands behind his head, "Alright! You got me!" he chuckled happily. He was more than excited to be there, I couldn't blame him.

Before she could set the bowls, "Hey Ayame, on second thought I'll take whatever he's ordering."

She smirked, "That's the sixth time this month that's happened with Naruto around. No problem!"

Her father came out a minute later with the bowls. Naruto and I both broke our chopsticks at the same time, making a synchronized _click_. Naruto picked up the smell and dug in with a hungry smile. I looked down at my bowl. It didn't seem like anything special at a glance. But I lifted the noodles to my lips and took a bite.

I froze as the chop sticks clattered to the table. I had completely underestimated the contents of the bowl in front of me.

"Is something wrong?" Ayame asked worried about my reaction.

I picked up my chop sticks and I stuttered, "This…this is freaking amazing!" I exclaimed and I happily slurped up another bite.

Naruto stopped for a moment, "Man, I take back what I said before! _This _is officially the best Ichiraku has to offer! You have Naruto Uzumaki's seal of approval!" he stood up and gave the owner a thumbs up.

I summoned my payment from my cash scroll and made sure to include a nice tip. "You got mine too!" I smiled.

This Naruto kid, he seemed like a fun guy to have around at a first glance. But I could sense something else, something dark. It made something inside of me stir. I walked away before anything else could happen.

That power I felt coming from him, it felt almost identical to the one I felt before.

"That's him!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

I looked in the reflection of a mirror to see Konohamaru pointing in my direction. He was talking to Kikashi and a woman in a green kimono with blonde hair. She was probably in her late twenties. I tensed up as I recognized her as one of the faces carved into the mountainside. She was the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village! I tried not to look at them.

"I was right. That chakra formation, there's no mistaking it. A sealing jutsu", Kikashi muttered.

I gritted my teeth, making the mistake of looking back at them. I stared at them and silence filled the air. But I turned and walked away, nonchalantly waving my hand at them.

"I told you before not to turn your back on me!" I could hear his jutsu, the Rasengan, powering up, and I twisted around as he flew past.

_Tick_. Suddenly time seemed to slow down, and me with it. Konahomeru was right in front of me practically suspended in midair. How bizarre.

Whatever it was, I now had a time within time to react. In slow motion I threw a set of chakra lines in between the buildings, creating something of a spider web. Konahomeru flew right into it and got tangled up.

_Tock_. Time resumed at its normal pace. The Hokage and Kikashi stared at me.

"Let me down intruder, I'm not done with you yet!"

"No, you are", I growled walking over to him, looking him square in the eye, "I don't care if you're the future seventh Hokage, that doesn't mean that you can just attack me out of the blue and expect to walk away unscathed." The lines dissolved and he dropped to the ground. I walked past him without another word.

Kikashi lifted up his headband and uncovered a strange red eye with what looked like pinwheel designs on the inside. "I see", he muttered, "So that's how he did it."

A ninja wearing a white mask flickered into existence beside the Hokage. "Milady, should we proceed?" "No, don't go in. I would suggest sending a Hyuga. Send for Lee and Shino too." I didn't stick around to find out what she meant. I built up a large mass of chakra in my legs and leapt high over the buildings, back to the Uchiha residence. I had a few minutes at best before those three people mentioned showed up. If I was seen as a threat of some sort, I had to hide. I dashed back into the Uchiha residence and I placed my storage scroll on full bookshelf. Then I quickly stored myself in the scroll.

Since it seemed that I might be in here for a little while, I began to make my "mobile home" a little cozier. Using the pen, I swiped in the air and ink flowed and formed a house, similar to that of the Uchiha residence. Only it wasn't run down. I began forming furniture and a comfortable bedroom. For the first time in my memory, I laid down in my bed and immediately felt sleepy.

That was far enough excitement for one day. With my house complete, I began to reflect on what happened today, starting with what happened during my hunt. My personality had changed for a moment when I was hunting. I felt like a savage beast, and my actions followed suit. Then there was that voice in my head. Perhaps it was just me in that second state of mind.

_Poof!_ I was so distracted that I didn't even hear the voices coming from outside of the scroll. Before I knew it, I was summoned out of the scroll and was lying on the floor of the Uchiha residence. "What the?!" I exclaimed as I jumped back to my feet. In front of me were two leaf village shinobi. One was a shady looking character with a pair of dark glasses and a green hood which covered up most of his other features. The other guy was wearing a standard shinobi vest over a green jumpsuit with orange socks. He had the same bowl cut and bushy eyebrows as Guy.

"I did not see this one coming!" the later said getting into a fighting stance.

"I told you that my beetles never fail me, Lee."

So these two were Lee and Shino, the people sent by the Hokage. "Hey, it's polite to knock before summoning you know!" I said picking up my scroll, "What do you guys want? I'm trying to get some shut eye and I'm not interested in another fight."

"Then I'm afraid you're about to have a bad day", Shino said as a black cloud emerged from his jacket sleeves. A collective buzz could now be heard.

"Bugs?!" I backed away, only to figure out that they were crawling up behind me too. "Why does it have to be bugs?!" I ran out of the building and into the courtyard trying to get the bugs off of me, but they kept coming, and my Chakra levels began to steadily drop. The beetles were sucking away my power.

"Stop it! I hate bugs!" I screamed, "Lightning style: Thunder Mine Jutsu!" thunder clapped as the lightning fried every bug within fifteen feet of me.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee came out of nowhere in a series of rapid paced Taijutsu techniques. I accessed my wind chakra and began dodging his kicks. With each one, my hand would make a swiping motion slightly throwing off Lee's attacks. I hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"I cannot hit him, Shino!" Lee called out. Suddenly Lee flipped backwards and out of my range.

I almost turned to run, but there was a painful shock-wave that struck me through the heart, and I coughed up blood.

"Gentle fist", a soft feminine voice whispered behind me. I couldn't access my chakra my supply had been completely cut off!

I reached for my kunai but I stumbled to the ground, quickly losing consciousness. "Not….fair", I whispered as all went black.

(End Chapter 2)

AND CUT! Beowulf here! I was so excited to finally get on top of my first story that i make a couple of mistakes in the first chapter. One of which was not providing a good post script message. Throughout this story I'll keep the use of profanity to a minimum, so you won't find any words stronger than "damn" in here. I actually have been writing my own personal stories for the past couple of years and I plan to have them published when I'm in college. I love writing almost more than reading, but what I love the most is when people love what I write

On that note I want to hear your voice. Give me some feedback on my writing so far. If you feel like it, give me some _constructive_ criticism.

If you have an ideas that you would like to share to improve my story feel free to share them with me through a private message (I want to surprise everyone else reading). If I decide to follow, I'll be sure to credit the person who originally thought of it in a post script.

Leave a review and keep on reading.

Beowulf out!


	3. Chapter 3: The Beast Within

Chapter 3: the Beast Within

Before I woke up I had a brief vision of a leaf shinobi of jonin level with short blond hair rummaging through files in my head.

Just as he finished I forced him out saying, "Get out of my head!" I snapped upright in a bed to find that same shinobi on the ground as he snapped out of that jutsu.

"The medicine should have had effect!" a woman with black hair and a black robe said. A small pig was by her side.

Beside the blonde ninja was a tall, tan man with a menacing look and a black bandanna tied around his head. There was another man who had brown hair, a shinobi vest, owl like eyes, and had some sort of metal mask around his face. Kikashi was with them too.

I gritted my teeth and reached for my kunai, only to find that it, along with my other scrolls, were gone.

"I heard that the Leaf was a peaceful village. Do you people treat all of your visitors like this?" I switched out one claw on both of my index fingers and broke the cuffs on my hands. I sheathed my blades immediately afterwards as I rubbed my sore hands.

"Only the special few", the guy with the bandana growled at me, "You qualify with flying colors."

"What would you know?" I hissed back and my arms sparked with electricity.

"That's enough!" the Hokage walked in, "We needn't anger him more than we already have. Your job here is done." The man walked out of the room.

All was silent for a moment, but I reluctantly disabled my lightning. "Based on the little I know about this village, I presume that you are the….fifth Hokage."

She nodded. "I'm sorry we had to greet you in such a manner, but you kind of pulled a few of our alarms. But I would very much appreciate it if you kindly answered a more important question. Who are you?"

I closed my eyes and sighed, "I don't know. I know almost nothing about myself. About a day before I was captured, I woke up in a field with nothing but my clothes, a robe, and a headband with 'Miki' written on it, I can only assume that's my name. I had and still have no memory of my past or even my own name. Since then I've discovered two different chakra natures and created a jutsu off the top of my head, that Konahomeru kid witnessed it first hand when he tried to kill me. That's all I know." I flopped down on my bed.

"You said you woke up with nothing but the headband. Where did the scrolls come from?"

"When I came in, I saved a shop in town from a potential paper bomb accident. The girl running the shop, Tenten, she gave me two empty storage scrolls as a thank you. I got the money after taking down a bull boar by the side of a mountain. You can ask those guys I saved, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sakura. They'll tell you. And my kunai was a gift from a blacksmith out of town who I had look at my headband."

The blonde jonin stepped forward and said, "Hmm, what he's telling us is true. It matches everything I could pull from him."

I put my hands behind my head and sighed, "But why bring me in? Apart from my apparent amnesia, I'm nothing special."

"Your eyes beg to differ", Kikashi said holding up a mirror.

Looking into my eyes, after focusing for a moment, my irises suddenly changed into gear shapes and my pupils looked like hands on a clock. The gears moved a click counter clockwise in my left eye and clockwise in my right with each second that passed.

Kikashi lifted his own headband to reveal his red right eye, "You and I both possess a type of ocular jutsu. Mine is called the Sharingan. Each Ocular jutsu grants its holder special abilities and untold powers. You possess an ocular jutsu that has been seen only once in recorded history, the Chronogan, the Clockwork Eyes of Time. An obvious trait is that the holders already have perfect chakra control and can manipulate it at will. Despite the fact that you have basically no training whatsoever, you've already developed a powerful jutsu in less than a day and perfected the use of chakra strings, like a puppet master. Then, when Konahomeru challenged you a second time, you used your eye to slow down your perception of time, giving you your own timeframe to plan an attack while still in combat."

I stared at my reflection in admiration of those rare eyes. But I continued, "Okay, but are my eyes really that dangerous as to bring me into custody?"

"Well, no. It may be astronomically rare, but it's not as dangerous or unpredictable as, say the Rinnegan", Kikashi said finishing up.

"Then why am I being seen as such a potential threat?" I held up my hands.

He looked to Tsunade and said, "I think we should bring him in here."

"You're right. Captain Yamato," she looked to the owl eyed man, "prepare your jutsu just in case."

"Yes, Milady."

"Send them in", Tsunade ordered and the door opened to reveal a girl my age with dark blue (almost black) hair and pale eyes. She was blushing deeply.

My heart pounded hard at the sight of her. I mean, she was so freaking adorable! Words can't even describe it! Beside her stood a very familiar yawning face.

"What is it now Grandma? Please tell me that you have a mission for me."

I bolted upright. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Oh hey…..what was your name again? I didn't catch it."

"Miki", then I muttered quietly, "I think."

Tsunade raised here eyebrows in surprise, "You know him?"

"Well, yeah. We crossed paths at Ichiraku Ramen and we both were the first ones to try out a new addition to the menu. Seems like a good kid."

The girl did a quick hand sign and the veins around her eyes popped a little. "Byakugan", she whispered quietly. Another ocular jutsu. But I remember that voice.

"Wait a minute, you were the one who got me from behind while Lee and Shino were trying to catch me. A Hyuga if I heard correctly."

Her jutsu broke as she stumbled backwards and her face turned red. "I-I-I'm so sorry!" she stuttered nervously. I shook with delight with how cute that was. I let out a good hearty laugh. "It's nothing to worry about. You had orders to follow, so I can't blame you. That's one killer technique you've got." Her face turned a deeper shade of red but she got back to her jutsu.

"Grandma, what does this have to do with the three of us?"

"Hinata's just here to run a comparison between you and Miki. You both appear to have something in common."

Hinata nodded, "Apart from minor differences in behavioral patterns, they are almost a perfect match!"

Naruto brightened up suddenly, "You don't mean…Yes! I'm finally not alone in this village!"

"Miki", Tsunade spoke up, "What has me concerned is that you woke up almost immediately after a solar eclipse. Your platinum headband was inscribed with the same exact insignia. Look at your chest."

I did so and I gasped as I saw a silver and gold four trigram formation, about the size of a dinner plate, over my heart. In the center of it was the same solar eclipse insignia that was on my headband.

"What you see on your chest is a rare seal that can only be formed under the light of a solar eclipse. This design in particular was designed to lock away what is called a Tailed Beast, a giant creature comprised of a practically limitless chakra supply. Their hosts are called jinchuuriki. Naruto here is the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox." Naruto lifted his shirt to reveal a yin-yang seal over his stomach.

"That explains that dark chakra I sensed in him at Ichiraku", I put my hand on my chin, "And you're saying that _I _am a jinchuuriki?"

"That's right. But what has me concerned is that all of the Tailed beasts either have hosts or are in the hands of the Akatsuki. Their identities are recorded and shared with the leaders of all surrounding villages, but as far as I've seen you've never come up."

"Are you suggesting that there is a Tailed beast higher than the ten tails statue?" Yamato asked.

"Not necessarily. I presume that this beast may have a similar origin to the others."

Naruto perked up, "I know! How about I talk to Kuruma about it? Maybe he knows."

Tsunade considered this. "Alright. For our safety, I would like everyone, save for Naruto, Miki, and Yamato, to leave the room."

Everybody walked out. Hinata glanced back at Naruto for a moment, blushed, and smiled a little before the door closed behind her.

A set of wooden pillars appeared in a puff of smoke, surrounding Naruto and me.

"Okay, is this part of some sort of ritual or something?"

"No, whenever a jinchuuriki interacts with their tailed beast, a risk arises of the beast taking over. My Wood style will keep the chakra levels of the nine tails and your beast secure."

I looked to Naruto and said, "So, what now?"

"I'll take care of this", he pressed his palm against my seal. All went black for a moment, but I suddenly woke up in a brightly lit sewer system which was surprisingly clean.

"What is this place?" I said, wondering how the heck we wound up here.

"The mindscape of me and Kuruma, the Nine Tails. Whenever I choose, I can go here and have a face to face conversation with him. In a sense we're basically inside of the seal itself."

"It's just like a storage scroll", I guessed, "Does that mean that mine is connected to this one, since we're both here now?"

Naruto was concerned now, "It may be possible."

"Naruto_"_, a deep voice rumbled throughout the system as we walked, "Who is this human you have brought with you_?" _It sounded just like the voice I heard before, only much deeper and sinister.

"He's a friend, a jinchuuriki of an unknown tailed beast, not one of the original nine."

Kuruma chuckled, "Interesting. Alright then, cub, find your way to me and we'll talk. You too, human." Several bricks in the wall were pushed back then slid to the side as Kuruma made a passageway to his chambers.

As we began to walk Kuruma continued. "Hmm, this boy is definitely a jinchuuriki. I can sense the presence of another Tailed Beast. It appears that our mindscape has linked to yours, Miki."

"Don't try anything funny if you find it first", Naruto yelled as we ran off down the tunnel.

"That is for me to decide, cub. Unlike me, this one should be sealed off. I'm free to roam now."

"You mean to tell me that you let the Nine Tails roam free around here?" I said running.

"Give Kuruma a break, Miki. He might not sound like it at first, but he's nice when you get to know him."

We then came to a large dark room that seemed to go on forever in almost every direction. This was it.

"Well, where is he?" I asked, not seeing a fox of any sort wading around in the water. Suddenly a massive silhouette dropped from the ceiling causing the entire compound to shake. Water splashed on us but I dried myself off with wind chakra.

"Good Kami!" I gasped as I looked at the monster before me. The Nine Tails was a bright orange fox with long arms and legs. He had red eyes with slit pupils. And he had black stripes that ran from the tips of his ears to right in front of his eyes. This being before me, was a proper Kaiju in every sense of the word. I stepped forward with Naruto.

"When you guys said a Tailed Beast, I was expecting something the size of a house, but this blows away my expectations!"

Kuruma walked forward a few steps and sniffed me from a few feet away, "I might not know whose jailer you are, but I might say that you appear to be a proper host at a first glance."

_Nice to know that were all on even ground_.

"Glad to hear it." Kuruma responded to my thought.

"You'll get used to it", Naruto assured me. Kuruma propped himself up on his elbow and rested his head in his hand. His free hand was repeatedly tapping the surface of the water.

"Let's begin. The first and obvious clue that we have is the physical change of the setting. Look at the walls to your eight o'clock." We looked to see that there were two sewer system exits. I line between them separated Kuruma's yellow brick sewer from a silver colored brick sewer.

I ran over to inspect the tiles. Each and every one was solid platinum. Then I looked to see that one of the bricks had a portion of its surface missing. On the inside of the hole was a solar eclipse insignia. I pulled out my head band and put it beside the missing portion. It was a perfect match. My name was even carved into it! My real head band came from this exact mindscape.

"This symbol", I held up my headband, "It's not the logo of a village. It's the symbol of the beast I'm hosting!"

"Miki, what else do you know?" Kuruma urged me on. I lifted up my shirt to reveal the four trigram eclipse seal over my heart.

"This was made during a solar eclipse almost two days ago. The same logo is in the center." Kuruma's eyes narrowed, as though he were missing only one piece of the puzzle.

"Have you ever heard a voice in your mind? What did it say?"

I scratched my head as I recalled what that voice, my beast said during the hunt. "I remember. He said, 'That's right pup. Taste the thrill of the hunt and I will lend you my strength.' It said that while I was out hunting bull boars. All of a sudden my hands did this." My claws extended from my hands and Kuruma backed up in surprise.

"I know who it is, and he should have died long ago." All was silent for a moment. "A solar eclipse. That's how he entered this world from his realm."

"Look it's great that you know who it is and all", Naruto put his hands behind his head impatiently, "But don't leave us hanging like that."

"He's right", I chimed in, "Tell us who it is." A hair raising howl erupted from somewhere in the dark sending chills down my spine.

"I don't have to", Kuruma said, a growl rumbling deep in his throat, "He's already here."

Water splashed as something charged towards Kuruma at lightning speeds. Kuruma braced for impact facing the direction of the sound. But a dark form leapt out of the darkness at his three o'clock tackled him into the water. This thing was just as tall as Kuruma was, and had long arms and legs. He was slightly bigger in size due to extra muscle. His fur was shiny silver with a white mane running from the back of its head which was that of a wolf. It didn't look so much as sly or sinister as Kuruma did. It was an appearance of a noble hunter, a pack leader. Kuruma and the wolf tumbled over each other as they wrestled. Neither one could seem to get the upper hand afterwards. I was amazed that I was hosting this thing. After some time they leapt back from each other and began circling.

"Kuruma", that rugged voice bellowed, "It's been too long."

"Save it, brother", Kuruma hissed, "How are you still alive?"

"It was a solar eclipse, that's how."

Naruto looked to see the tips of two fluffy tails on the wolf, "Awesome, Miki! You're hosting the Two Tails!"

The wolf darted over to Naruto in a split second. "I am _not_ the Two Tailed Cat, Uzumaki", he snarled as his tails came into full view as he passed. Or was it tail, singular? I saw only one tail, but midway down it split into two. "Whoa! Wait what does that make you?" Naruto asked. "His name is Coba," Kuruma chimed in, "The Split Tailed Wolf. I haven't seen him since we sparred as cub and pup. He was formed sometime after the Sage of the Six Paths created us. Most of the leftover Chakra gathered together, and because it fit the size bill, it took on a life of its own and Coba was born. What strikes me as surprising is how much he's grown. Ever since we were all children, he was easily the feeblest at the time, so many of us treated him as a little brother, not expecting much potential of him. But now here he is and he's outgrown _me_."

"That's enough storytelling, Kuruma", he said as he walked over to me and said, "The real reason I'm hear is because of _you,_ Pup."

I gulped before I spoke. "Coba. I want to know who sealed you away in me. Could you please tell me?" The wolf laid his head on his crossed arms.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Pup. There's not human alive who knows how to make or break that seal. Only one being has the knowledge and strength to do it."

I backed up slightly. "You mean you made that seal? You locked yourself inside of me?"

"This is a time of great strife for the Elemental Nations. With recent activities and the loss of my brethren, I cannot directly interfere. So I decided to enter the game by making a pawn a queen. I needed a jinchuuriki host."

"But why me?" I asked walking closer to him, so close in fact that I could have touched his nose.

"Have you ever heard any stories of a wolf taking in a human child and raising it as one of its own? The child was helpless. Despite having so much potential as a human being, he lost what he needed most, a pack to raise him. It is the nature of the wolf to care for his pack. It's a rule that even I have to abide by. I willingly chose you to host me, giving you the chance that you never had. Let's not forget to mention that in all of history, you are the first jinchuuriki to possess an ocular jutsu, the Chronogan no less. I believe that if you fight beside Naruto and Kuruma with me," he reached forward and gently tapped my heart with a single claw, "you may be just what this world needs. That is why you wear my head band. That is why you are who you are now."

That was a rather powerful speech and it took quite an effect on me. I felt the spot under my shirt where that seal was glowing with warmth in Coba's presence. I could picture dramatic music playing as I took my headband in hand and tied it around my forehead.

"Coba, hear this. So long as I have you guiding me, I will wear it proudly from this day forward!" Coba smiled.

"That's more than I was expecting from you, Pup. I knew I made the right choice."

After a short pause Naruto spoke up, "Miki, I'm heading out of here to get some ramen. It's getting late." _Poof!_ He was gone.

"Coba, I'll talk to you later tonight alone. For now, I plan to get some sleep." _Poof!_ Now the scenery changed into Coba's platinum sewer.

"I'd get going, Pup. You don't want to keep your new family waiting. Just remember now, the Leaf is your home. Protect it and all of your new pack with your life, and I promise to follow suit." I nodded and made my hand sign.

"Oh, I have one last question. Why 'Miki'? I don't have a problem with it, but I'm just curious."

"As any wolf pup should be. That's how you learn. Miki translates into 'Moon'. I chose that name to signify you becoming a jinchuuriki during the solar eclipse, when two beings become one to form something truly spectacular."

"Sweet! I won't let you down Coba!" I said as I happily popped back into realty.

"Alright!" I snapped up right hitting someone in the head.

"Ouch!" we both yelped at once. Everyone was back in the room. And the one whose head I hit was poor little Hinata. Her face was still bright red.

"Oh my Gosh! I'm sorry!" I said jumping down from the bed and helping her up. Her eyes opened to see me and she blushed further. I helped her up and turned to the Hokage.

"Lady Tsunade. I have something important to say. I know who I am and where I belong."

"Well spit it out kid", she said calmly. I looked around to see all of the people I met that day in the room.

"I am Miki of the Eclipse, Jinchuuriki of Coba, the Split Tailed Wolf. Lady Hokage, please grant me this request", I got down on one knee and bowed, "Grant me permission to make the Hidden Leaf Village my home."

She folded her arms. "Well, since you have told us nothing but the truth and you have passed Inoichi's mind reading jutsu, permission granted."

Naruto and I looked to each other and we both said, "Alright!" and high fived each other. Finally I had an identity, a purpose in life, and most important of all: a pack to call my own, knucklehead ninja Naruto included. He would serve as something that every boy should grow up with: a brother.

(End of Chapter 3)

HEEEYOO! Beowulf has left the building!

I'm going to start off my post script by bringing up a factor that I introduced into this chapter: a possible love interest. I know that there are so many of you who really want to see Hinata with Naruto, and I'll admit that I'm one of them. But Naruto is still hung up on Sakura, not even noticing Hinata's feelings for him (and I'm still shocked that Naruto didn't recognize this after Pain raided the Hidden Leaf). Be as it may, I'm going to try and pair up Miki with one of the Girls from the Leaf. If you want to see a particular pairing, please tell me. Remember: I want to hear some feedback.

[Thank you Miki.] Peace out my fellow shinobi fans! [Okay, this probobly won't explode, right?] Self storage jutsu!

_Poof!_


	4. Chapter 4: Invention

"Ah! Scroll, sweet scroll!" I sighed as my supplies were returned to me.

"Alright", Tsunade said walking with me, "First thing's first, we need to find a place for you to stay."

"Nah, there's no need to rush, I have my mobile home right here", I flipped my scroll in my hand.

"You actually live in that scroll, like a genie?" Naruto said.

"You could say that. The only real space I'll need is a bookshelf to hold this."

"I see", the Hokage picked up, "Now, I'll have you placed in genin rank, the same rank as Naruto, for the time being. You'll have a chance to move up in our ranks if you can pass the chonin exams in a month. I doubt that you'll have any trouble."

Something caught my eye. We passed up a small workshop, owned by a local clock maker. On one of the shelves was a box of parts, some of which glowed green in the sight of my Chronogan. I stepped into the shop and picked up the glowing parts.

Suddenly the parts flew together and snapped into place. I dropped it in surprise. It was a rather unusual piece, whatever it was. Another set of parts, including a large gear and my new piece, were glowing again. I pointed to them and a system of holographic lines connected the parts before each of them spontaneously connected with each corresponding part.

This caught the attention of the clock maker. He stood beside Naruto and Tsunade and silently urged me on. I tapped the new parts and they formed what looked like a horse drawn cart. An axel on the front enabled the front wheels tilt side to side. A section in the middle glowed, as did the original piece in my hand. A small lightning bolt shape appeared in between them.

"Can it really be that simple?" I asked myself out loud. I manually connected the two and attached two chakra lines to the front axle. A third connected to a small socket shape at the back of the box. I then put it on the ground and sent an electric charge down the third line. Suddenly the machine leapt forward on its four gear wheels and pulled me with it, until I anchored my feet to the ground and the machine tore up the ground trying to get its own grip. Then I shut off the chakra supply and the entire thing shut down.

"What did you do to that thing?" Naruto laughed looking at my device.

"I don't know. My Chronogan did it, I think."

"Well," "Tsunade hypothesized, "the Chronogan is also called the Clockwork eyes. Maybe it has a special link to clockwork parts and machine designs."

"But I think I know what this is. It converts electric energy into physical motion. A motor", the Clockmaker said. I sat down and thought about this.

"Tsunade, I'm going to need a large enclosed space, scrap parts, and a lot of scrolls. Got any places in mind?"

Sure enough, she did. A few minutes later she showed me a large abandoned warehouse. Most of it was wide open space. But there were several storage shelves that stretched a few stories tall, loaded with crates. I ran over to one and pried it open with my claws. Inside was a countless number of storage scrolls and spare parts.

"Might I ask why you need all this?" she asked.

"You saw what I did in that workshop, what my eyes can do with so little. Imagine what I could do with more parts, more options. This opens up countless possibilities that can aid the Leaf! This could create a countless number of Clockwork jutsus, like the puppet masters!"

From then on, the Den, as I liked to call my new warehouse, became my base of operations as opposed to the Uchiha residence. I still used my scroll as a direct housing unit and tonight I would start making a habit of placing that scroll on a bookshelf. As I passed the crates of parts, my Chronogan went berserk, overflowing with new blueprints: pistons, wind turbines, even a batch of rechargeable batteries.

The first thing I made was what I like to call a Ratchet Key. It was a handheld device with a set of differently sized gears, the largest of which was the size of one of the bowls at Ichiraku. The handle could absorb electricity and use it to turn the selected gear. All of my new creations would be gear based, and the Ratchet Key would serve as the only key in existence that could start most of them up. All I had to do was place it in a designated place on the machine, hold myself down, and the gear would send its energy into the machines. Next I began constructing my wind turbines, and since the parts were already made, it only took maybe fifteen minutes. But as I built this thing, I thought about how this turbine turned wind energy into electric energy. I thought, what if they did just the opposite. My Chronogan developed several different blueprints, which I embedded on normal scroll using my own chakra. This was a project that would have to wait for another time, when i had proper supplies. That was the downside to the Chronogan, it can't use raw materials to make machine parts.

I then began working on a larger version of my little cart I made before. The new gear wheels had much smaller teeth than usual, but that would provide perfect traction on dirt roads and could travel faster than a ninja could run. It was roughly the size of a small horse and a pilot could maneuver it with ease. I when it struck midnight, I had finished the main design, and I stored it in a bright red storage scroll. It was time for bed.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a door opening outside. I figured that it might be Tsunade coming to check up on me so I popped out of my scroll. Who I found wasn't Lady Tsunade. I popped up right in front of a ninja with purple war paint, and black clothes with a hood. His headband had an "I" shaped symbol on the front. We both stumbled back in surprise.

"Intruder!" we both yelled at the same time as my arms sparked with lightning. He pulled out a scroll and summoned a life-sized puppet with shaggy hair and six limbs.

"A puppet master", I muttered under my breath.

"Say goodnight!" he yelled as his doll rushed forward.

"Wait", a calm but commanding voice called. The puppet disappeared and the ninja looked down to the entrance of the warehouse. There stood a boy my age wearing a white robe with a blue stripe down the middle. A white and blue hat hung on his back. He had black eyeliner with a red symbol over his left eye and he had red hair. On his back was a gourd.

"You are still reckless Konkuro, this man is not our enemy."

"His headband says otherwise!" Konkuro argued.

"Lady Tsunade says that this one is a special case. She designated this warehouse for him to set up a base of operations."

I sheathed my claws and sighed with relief, "Oh good, you're just visiting. Sorry about that, but it appears that Konkuro here has given me my wake up call", I reached for the sky as I stretched, "If you're here for supplies, help yourself. So to whom do I have the honor of welcoming?"

"Gaara of the Desert, Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village." A Kage from another village? Here?!

I whistled, "Quite an honor indeed then."

"Konkuro, this man here is a new addition to the leaf village's ranks, Miki of the Eclipse, a new jinchuuriki." Konkuro tensed but went back to searching for parts. My Chronogan analyzed his puppet and determined what was wrong, a part of the puppet's chest was falling apart and needed to be secured. I picked up the puppet and walked over to the necessary crate. I then summoned a workbench from one of my scrolls and placed the puppet on it.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Red Ant is irreplaceable!"

I flashed my Chronogan at him and said, "I know what I'm doing. Your puppet needs a new brace to secure its midsection." I opened up a box to pull out some aluminum braces. "Now, the wood designs may be nice, but it tends to break easily. This on the other hand is lighter and stronger."

Putting it down beside the puppet, the two suddenly linked together and a set of screws locked it firmly in place. Konkuro was stunned.

"How the heck did you know where the brace was before?"

"I didn't. My eyes did." He asked nothing more as I took his remaining parts and patched them to the puppet using the same technique. He picked up his puppet and tried several melee swipes with some hidden spikes.

"I haven't felt him run like this for over a month! Thanks!"

"Really it's nothing."

"Come on Konkuro", Gaara called him walking away, "We have a meeting with Lady Tsunade in fifteen minutes. Pleasure making your acquaintance, Miki."

Konkuro stored away his puppet and said, "Next time I'm in town I'll have you inspect the rest of my arsenal. Sound good?"

"Why not?" I said as he disappeared with the body flicker technique.

I was alone with Coba. "_Gaara. That boy has traces of the One Tailed Shukaku."_ "A Jinchuuriki?" I asked. "_Sadly, he's a former jinchuuriki. I'm afraid that my brother Shukaku was captured by the Akatsuki not long ago."_ I frowned. "I….I'm sorry to hear that." "_Don't be. That's where we come in. It's not just your pack we have to protect pup, it's mine too. For now, it's time to howl with yours."_

I couldn't possibly agree more.

(Former Orochimaru hideout)

Kabuto was not a person to believe in superstition. He had heard about how a solar eclipse brings bad luck, but he never believed it. So you can imagine how he felt when the giant chakra laser came out of the sky at the peak of the eclipse. Since Orochimaru was gone, Kabuto had taken up his work and even a similar snake-like appearance. He had essentially become Orochimaru in every way but mind.

When that chakra blast came out of nowhere and eliminated a quarter of the hideout, he began to get suspicious. He thanked Kami that all of the test subjects were out of the way, it had been a troublesome task getting so many wonderful results. Many lives were lost in the process, but to him it was a small price to pay for power. What he didn't like, what he despised more than anything else, was being left in the dark. He hated not knowing the truth.

This was one of those special situations. What caught his attention was that chakra pulse. No human could possibly create a shot that big. It would surely draw in the attention of the Akatsuki.

(Sixteen miles south of Kabuto)

"Look, if Sasori were here right now he would have said that he hates to be kept waiting. I think he's rubbing off on me", Deidara hinted at his partner.

Jango had just come back out of the store with the roadside store and they continued down the wooded path.

"You keep telling me about this Sasori person. Who was he, what was he like?" Jango asked.

Jango was Deidara's height and he had brown hair that was shoulder length. His eyes were violet. He was nineteen years old.

One might expect an Akatsuki member to be somewhat threatening in appearance. Apart from that massive old scar over his right eye (which never seemed to fade), he wasn't really threatening at all. He was a guy that could easily gain the trust of anyone, and he never broke it. That was his style when he wasn't running a mission as the latest Akatsuki member. He was a rather goofy guy in the same sense that Tobi (now Madara) was before, only Jango got on everybody's good side and even forced Deidara to crack a smile at his antics. The thing was that no one knew where he came from or where he trained. But when Madara laid his eyes (or was it eye) on Jango, he immediately granted him permission to join the ranks. Exactly why was beyond Deidara's understanding. One thing was for sure, he was boosting morale in the ranks. It all made him wonder why a person of Jango's type would even consider being among the Akatsuki ranks.

"He was an artist, like myself. He believed that true art is meant to last for generations and he showed this through his puppet master jutsu. Funny how he didn't last very long at all. He could never see that true art is in explosion!"

Just for fun he took out a set of small clay bombs and watched as they rocketed into the air and exploded in a shower of bright lights.

"Whoa! That is so cool!" Jango stared in marvel.

Deidara smiled. "I've developed a new form of detonation chakra. You know how I have C1, C2, and C3 chakra. I discovered that if you could control a powerful but slow burning blast, you can have the bombs shoot off in the blink of an eye. I call it C0 chakra. Talk to me later and I'll explain how I used it to escape my 'suicide bomb'."

Jango walked in deep thought for a moment. "Deidara, what if I told you that I was an artist myself?"

"Is that so?" Deidara said interested.

"I've come across many people like yourself who use their jutsu as art. Each one claims that their own work is superior, so called 'true art'."

"What are you getting at?" Deidara questioned.

"Don't get the wrong idea Deidara, but I began to think that maybe there is no absolute definition of art, other than creativity put into action. But true art? Everyone goes about it the wrong way. I believe that it's not the form of the art that makes it superior, it's the effort that is put into it. Look at your detonating clay for example. You put your heart and soul into creating art to the fullest as only you can. _That_", he gave Deidara a thumbs up and a sparkling white grin, "is what makes your works true art!"

Deidara was speechless for thirty seconds. "Jango my man, I never would have expected such philosophical words from you. I find it surprising. But I never thought of it like that."

Jango chuckled, "Well, that's part of who I am, I have to surprise people when they least expect-AAAAAAHHH!" Jango was so focused in his speech that he failed to notice the crater that lay right in front of them, at least two hundred feet in diameter.

"I remember a massive rock formation being here only three days ago. Someone's trying to best my Explosive style! Oh, hey! You okay, Jango my man?!" Jango was at the bottom of the crater in a pool of his own blood. "Uh-oh", he muttered as he slid down there to check on him.

Deidara looked concerned until Jango looked up with a smile, "Gotcha!"

"Don't do that, man! I thought you killed yourself!" Deidara face faulted.

"Oh please, I saw this crater coming a mile away! No biggie" he stood up, his robe stained red.

"Look man, your wound is telling me that it is in fact a biggie."

Jango looked down in surprise, "Whoops! I forgot to clean that up!" He clasped his hands together, moving them away from his body. The blood that stuck to him shifted and was completely removed from the fabric. The blood staining the ground floated up to join the rest, forming a massive blob of red.

"It's contaminated. How troublesome." The blood ball then spat out every last speck of dust, dirt, everything, until it was perfectly purified. The blood then shot back to him, splattering on his face, then was pulled back into the scar over his eye.

Deidara shivered a little, but smiled, "I don't suppose that was an example of your art?"

"Somewhere along those lines. Not like I was actually wounded, but I find it fun to surprise people. That's almost an art in itself."

"Look at the size of this thing!" Dadara said, his voice echoing off of the sides of the crater. Jango couched down and pulled out a baseball sized glob of blood from his scar and it splattered over the ground, then came back to him to form a ball in his hand.

"Let's see", Jango said as a flaming red bulge came out of the glob, "We're dealing with the result of a chakra explosion, Lightning based. Cool, a little wind chakra too", he looked to the sky and traced his finger along a specific path to three other locations, "This was one of four detonations set around an eight mile radius. we appear to be on the southernmost of the four."

"You can actually know all that just by splattering blood on the ground?" Deidara asked.

"Yeah. My blood is capable of revealing any traces of chakra in a given area. Based on the arangement of the residue, I can determine what jutsu was used without ever even seeing it. What we have here is no ordinary jutsu. Chakra like this is magnetized to each of the four cardinal directions, and determining which direction it points to is a piece of cake. It is the sure sign of an inter-dimensional summoning, like one of Madara's jutsus but on a significantly larger scale."

"Do you know what was summoned? A tailed beast perhaps?" Deidara hinted. The blood ball expelled all the impurities it had picked up and returned to the scar of its owner.

"I'm afraid that information is fuzzy. But whatever it was, it was something huge. Kaiju sized perhaps!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were more of a critic than an artist. Very well done." Deidara started forming one of his clay birds in his hands.

"Where I'm from I'm known as the Blood Hound. Madara said that he had heard of my reputation as a tracker and forensic expert. He said that it was something that the Akatsuki lacked, and greatly needed."

_Poof!_ Deidara's bird grew in size and Deidara offered Jango his hand to help him up.

"Well, let's get to the center of the four and see what we find", then chuckled as he repeated the words of his late partner, "I don't like to be kept waiting."

(End of Chapter 4)

Beowulf here!

I'm going to come clean right now and say that this stuff is written several days before it's published. By the time i had developed the Chronogan's new power, I saw how similar this was to the Master builders (see the Lego Movie, it's AWESOME!).

Now the views are growing slowly at this point, and I'm not getting any reviews _yet_. Don't forget that I want to hear what you have to say. I can't perfect this story without you.

Beowulf out!


	5. Ch5: Fun N Games 'til Some Guy's Hurt

Ch 5: Fun and Games Till that Shinobi Gets Hurt

(Hidden Leaf Village)

I spent my day hanging out with Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba. We had Tsunade's permission to take a walk outside of the village walls. Naruto has been anxious to get outside and have some free time. He sprinted out of the village at a full sprint.

"Fresh air!" he yelled as he took to the trees. Hinata smiled in that ever so adorable fashion at Naruto's glee. I found it so ironic how Naruto has absolutely no clue of Hinata's feelings for him. Of course she'd probably faint before she could confess her feelings. She was the kind of girl who was beautiful but didn't realize it. I could go on and on.

"Look, all I'm saying is that if you're going to use your wolf's skills in battle, you have to learn the Fang over Fang."

"Oh that twister move I saw during the hunt? Sounds fun but isn't that move specific to your clan?"

"Not exactly", Kiba said, "My family came from a group of traveling hunters, who first developed the technique. It's not really a secret jutsu, but not many people actually know how to do it." The wind blew softly from out three o'clock.

"Mmmmm. That breeze is nice. Smells like mint."

Kiba's eyebrows knit together. "Mint doesn't grow on this site of the mountain range."

"Then I suggest you run before you guys get fried", I said making my favorite hand sign. Akamaru, Kiba, Hinata, and Naruto all went fifty feet down the path and watched as several kunai flew out of a bush and in my direction.

_Tick_.

Time slowed and I slowly spun to my right at just the right second. Though one knife came close enough to clip away some stray hair on the back of my head.

_Tock._

Time resumed normal pace.

While in motion I said, "Lightning Style: Thunder Mine Jutsu!" _CRACK-KA-BOOM! _A crater stretched across the road and into the fried bushes with a bolt of lightning. Kiba was in absolute shock. Naruto was downright terrified. Hinata showed the opposite of what she normally would have done: she clasped her hands together with an impressed smile on her face.

In the bushes was another girl with long blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. She wore a purple top and pants and her stomach was showing. I have to admit that her frame was _flawless_. But she was only inches away from the edge of the crater.

"What in the blue blazes was that?!" Kiba pointed at me, "You almost fried Ino!"

"Oh relax Kiba!" Ino called back as she did a series of hand signs slammed her fist into the ground and the crater filled itself again like nothing ever happened.

"Friend of yours?" I turned to the remaining group.

"She's on Shikamaru and Choji's team", Hinata spoke.

"Ino! What the heck did you do that for?!"

"Isn't it obvious, Naruto? I was just testing his abilities. And I predicted right again."

"Oh please", Naruto deadpanned, "Had you predicted right, you wouldn't have been that close to being fried."

"Shut it, you!" Ino clenched her fist in annoyance. I chuckled at this. It was freaky just how similar Ino's personality was to Sakura's (and they should have the same skill set if I remember correctly).

"And I don't believe I caught your name, Sparky", Ino said in a charming voice as she walked her finger up my shoulder. This girl was the polar opposite of Hinata: confident and outgoing. I could tell that she was the kind of girl who would love to simply take charge. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. I could feel my cheeks warm up as I lightly blushed. I wondered if this was even close to what Hinata felt around Naruto. Ino smiled, seeing clearly that she was beginning to have a grip on my emotions. I could smell mint, definitely mint. It was definitely coming from the perfume she wore.

"Um, Miki", I said, trying my best to hide my nervousness.

"Nice to meet you", she said before turning to the others, flicking her hair as she did. Now she left me on the edge of a cliffhanger. She was toying with me!

"What might you guys be doing out of the village?"

"We were having fun until you interrupted", Naruto groaned.

"Don't make me send you back to the village in a coffin, you twerp!" she barked.

"Okay, break it up" I walked between them, "We were just going for a walk. Naruto needs to get a little time outside the Village walls."

"Whatever. Did you find anything while you were out?" Naruto asked.

"My dad is head of the intelligence division, with the tricks he's taught me, I don't see how I couldn't be successful. Last I heard from the people I talked to, Sasuke's on the move again. Rather close to the Leaf too."

"Awesome! We have to set up an ambush. Uchiha's not pulling a drive by on us and getting away with it!" Kiba grinned.

"Sasuke", I muttered quietly. That name sounded so familiar. But I remember the name Uchiha from the residence that I stayed at before. So they weren't gone after all.

"Miki", Naruto said, "You're coming with us to catch Sasuke! If you and I both team up, there's no way he can get away!"

I just stared at him blankly and said, "Who's Sasuke?"

Naruto sweat dropped as he realized his error. "Oh right, your amnesia. Tell you what, later today we'll talk to Grandma Tsunade and she'll fill you in."

(Later around that same spot)

Tsunade told me all that I needed to know about how Sasuke was a former member of Naruto and Sakura's team, but defected from the Leaf. She didn't give me any information as to why he left or where he went, but it wasn't of any concern to me. I was ready for a smack down like now other with a real opponent.

Naruto and Sakura were obvious choices for the recovery team because I've heard that they were some of the heaviest hitters in the Leaf. Shikamaru was an obvious choice as a strategist. Hinata would join us as our tracking specialist (I learned that those eyes could pick up anything within a mile radius of her, and in a three-sixty view too). Then there was a pale skinned kid with brown hair and a plain expression. His name was Sai, the same Sai that developed the customization technique that I use in my scrolls. He had essentially taken over for Sasuke since he left, and was a former member of the Ambu Black ops. He excelled in ink jutsus and was our eyes in the sky using his ink birds. Kikashi would join us.

"I don't see how he could possibly be a problem" I said confidently.

Kikashi glared at me with his right eye, "We're going up against the guy who killed the head of the Ambu Black Ops. He's dangerous. And most importantly, do not look him in the eyes. He's got a level of Sharingan that's even higher than mine." I barely heard him. I was pumping myself up on the inside, trying to dream up some killer jutsus. With a little supplies from Tenten, I was prepped. I even managed to make a jutsu that was similar to Naruto's Rasengan.

_Come on Miki! Step up to the challenge! Sasuke's got nothing on me! _

"You're getting cocky, Pup", Coba warned, "Think as you did during the boar hunt. Should anything happen, you need to jump in and fight."

_Right, only show yourself when you have to_.

"Look where is he anyways?" I moaned beginning to sound a little like Naruto, "All this walking is getting a little boring."

"If Ino's Intel is right, which it always is, he's at least a day away from here. Supposedly he's heading to some ancient ruins. So for now, we'll be spending the night just upstream of that spot", Kikashi explained.

"That should give you plenty of time to work on your gadgets and gismos on the road", Sakura sighed.

My eyes sparkled, "Sakura, you're a genius!" I said as I pulled out my latest invention, "Think fast Naruto!" I tossed it to him. He looked at my little device with interest.

"What the heck is this thing?"

"I call it the Lexicon Cube. All you have to do is match up each color. It'll keep you occupied for the trip, trust me."

"Okay, it sounds easy enough", Naruto said as he twisted one of its sides, then across the middle, and so on. Time and time again he made a miscalculation and he went back to square one. With each passing second he grew more intense in his expression, his face grew red, and then he started spouting off how I had created a monster.

Everybody got a kick out of that. But the one who cracked up the most, was Hinata. Not a single person noticed but me. I'll come clean and confess that I knew that Naruto would react like that. More importantly, I knew that _Hinata_ would act like that in response to Naruto's antics. It was the latter that I hoped to make happen and I was very successful at that. I loved that smile she had whenever she was truly happy.

Finally he drooped saying, "I give up!"

Shikamaru took it from him and he said, "Really Naruto? You're going about solving this the wrong way."

"Yeah right! I'm telling you that that thing can't be solved!"

"Done!" he handed it back to me completely solved. Naruto face faulted and handed it to me so I could mix it up again.

"I'm not letting Shikamaru outdo me this time!" he grunted as he hopelessly attempted to solve it. Hinata was giggling the whole time. It was a complete success! There were a couple of times where Naruto _thought_ he finished but then saw how two pieces were out of place. Then the cube was scrambled as he attempted to fix it and he lost his way again. I can't even begin to describe his reaction to that! Now even Sakura was cracking up at what I've started. What I did was create a sense of group bonding, specifically to make myself feel like part of a family. It appeared to be working.

The time had come where we had reached our camp site and I volunteered to go grab some supplies from the store on a nearby road. The sun was setting as the end of my second day of life came to an end. And I ran into a very peculiar pair of people.

As I walked into the roadside rest stop I was followed by a pair of men wearing black robes with red clouds on them. Perhaps they were part of an independent guild together. Either way it was obvious that they were both shinobi. I paid little mind to them at first. The blonde one was busy buying all the clay that he could get his hands on, exactly why was beyond me. After I gathered all I needed I ran into the guy with a scar on his face, and I mean I literally ran into him. All of the boxes I had dropped on top of me and I saw him on the ground bleeding.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I said as I bent down beside him.

"Gotcha!" he said with a smile. Despite the fact that half of his face was bloody, he had the aura of a prankster, a class clown if you would.

I sighed with relief, "I thought you were actually hurt man! Nicely done!" The blood on his face came off and formed twelve balls in the air which he started juggling around as they spat out all of the dirt they picked up into the trash can before it retreated into the scar over his eye. I applauded him, genuinely impressed by this unusual trick.

"I'm thinking about taking this on the road. I might earn some serious coin with it", he said as he checked for any remaining traces, "The name's Jango", he held out his hand.

"Miki" I responded, shaking in return.

"Miki?" he nearly laughed, "Isn't that a girl's name?"

I was surprised by this. "No it's a guy's name. Trust me."

I saw his partner testing out some of the clay in the most unexpected of ways. I know this may sound weird but he had….mouths (lips, teeth, and a tongue) on the palms of his hands. And he was using them to chew up part of the clay he was buying. When he spat it back out, it was in the shape of a tiny bird the size of a marble. With a poof, the bird came to life and flew off into the sky before exploding in a shower of colors.

"Wow!" I said running out to look, "That is so cool!"

The blonde smiled, "My art inspires all kid. Art in explosion is simply magnificent."

"It is indeed", I said thinking back on my own Thunder Mine Jutsu. _That_ was an explosion.

"Jango my man, let's pay up and get going!"

"Roger that, Deidara!" he mock saluted before giving me a fist bump, "Hope I'll see you again", he laughed.

"Ditto!" I said as my new friends took off on one of Deidara's larger birds. I kind of like that Jango guy. Something about his prankster personality reminded me of Naruto. But something else came to mind, something he said earlier.

Was 'Miki' really a girl's name?

(End of Chapter 5)

HELLO EVERYBODY! BEOWULF IS BACK!

First off, I would like to apologize for not posting sooner. I mean it's been a whole month since I last updated this story (to the day actually). Regardless, I have been busy working on THREE other Fan Fictions which I have yet to post!

in regards to what they are, I've already started one with another one of "The Big Four" anime. Head's up world, my OC, Rico J. Sinker, is coming your way!

Then I've developed a Story which takes place within a very popular web series, an All american anime with the most badass fight scenes I've ever seen! It's RWBY! I'm developing two different OC's for this one, one boy from a people isolated from humans and Faunus alike. Another one has been twice betrayed by his native races and is likely to side with his new-found third. Clear the way for Nimbus Altos and Zane Eastman! Pick your side!

Finally, I'm bringing an ever popular video game to life! One boy has spent his whole life in gaming. Only now has he discovered that it never was a game, but rather a Medium between two worlds! Now with an arsenal of new-found powers, he's ready to protect Runeterra until the Nexus goes down! Follow Cater to Summoner's Rift and Beyond!

Before i go, I really haven't been getting much feedback from you guys and I would strongly appreciate some. I really need to know if i am going in the right direction with this!

Back to this story. Yes, i really did just pit Naruto against a Rubik's Cube! That's a combination that will keep you entertained!

Finally, I need your input on possible matching! I've already opened up a possibility for Hinata, but Now Ino's getting in on it. I've also been having a certain OC prowling around my test stories and she's likely to impact the standings.

[Sorry, Miki. I can't just tell you! What the heck do you mean? Of course I can! I'm writing this story!]

Gotta go! Miki's giving me a little trouble on my end! Beowulf out!

[Miki: Thunder Mine!"]


	6. Chapter 6: Feelings of Longing

Chapter 6: feelings of Longing

I talked to Kikashi about my name around the campfire at night.

"Well, it sort of is", he scratched the back of his head.

"I was afraid of that", I sweat dropped.

"But hey, a lot of names can belong to both boys and girls, like 'Alex' or 'Max' or even 'Dylan'. I know the latter really sounds like a guy's name alone, but it's also a girl's name too. Yours is basically the opposite." That eased my nerves a little, but I was going to talk to Coba about my name sooner or later.

Naruto had called in early and had fallen asleep by the fire. His head rested back in Sakura's lap. She seemed to smile a little at the way he slept. But I could tell that something from the past was rolling through her mind. Perhaps Naruto had confessed his apparent feelings for her (he had gone on and on about her in our talks).

Hinata looked at them from the shadows with a saddening look. She could see his feelings for Sakura, and it was obvious that Hinata had feelings for Naruto. It was enough to make me feel a little somber inside.

"_Have you ever heard of the term 'Lone Wolf' Miki?"_ Coba asked me as I partially entered our mindscape.

"Yeah, I don't know where I heard it from, but I know the term."

_"There should never be a lone wolf out there. Wolves are family creatures. It's how they hunt, breed, and survive. Without a family, we are nothing. You don't ever want to be a lone wolf Pup."_ I smiled weakly, but I realized what he meant.

Hinata was a lone wolf in another sense. She had a loving family and friends, but couldn't get the one she wanted most. Before I could talk, Kikashi said that it was time to hit the sack.

.

(1 Hour later)

All was silent with the exception of Naruto's snoring. Everyone was fast asleep (I was shocked that Kikashi could sleep with that mask on), but me. I couldn't help it. I felt a kind of emptiness inside that kept me from closing my eyes any longer than a blink. All I could do was sit and think about why I could possibly feel so awake, but so lonely.

After I finally picked up the sound of a waterfall in the distance, I figured that maybe a quick swim would tire me out. So I left the tent and brought along a waterproof scroll containing several towels. I could feel a warm mist rolling in from the falls and I realized that it must be a natural hot spring. Indeed it was. The water from the waterfall and the warm water created a fine mist in the slightly chilly night air. All of it was lit up by a full moon and a starry sky. It was a beautiful sight.

But I saw something even better.

Out on the water, I could see the silhouette of a teenage girl, beautifully curved, dancing on the water. She skated this way and that, barely making a sound. As she swept her arms around, the water followed like silk streamers. When she finished a pose, the streamers would run off as a fine mist that glittered in the light of the full moon. I could see that she was wearing a black single piece swimsuit too. But before I could wonder who it was, I saw a familiar pair of clothes folded up by the side of the spring, along with a Leaf Village headband.

"Hinata", I muttered quietly as I watched her performance on the water.

If only Naruto could have seen this, he would have felt very differently about the girl who felt so nervous around him. I know I felt differently. There was so much more to the Hyuga heiress than first meets the eye. I wanted to talk to her so badly, but I would risk ending her performance.

She suddenly stopped and said, "Gentle shot!" a barrage of blue chakra bolts shot out of her hands and in my direction. Before I could even activate my Chronogan, the side of my head was hit by shrapnel and Hinata began to run.

"Wait!" I said as she was caught in a network of my chakra lines and she nearly tripped back into the water. But I caught her hand first.

"Let me go!" she cried with her eyes closed.

But I grabbed her wrists gently, saying, "Hinata! Don't worry, it's just me. Miki." She finally looked me in the eyes for a moment and she sat down with her head between her knees. She cried quietly. I reached for one of my scrolls and summoned the fluffiest towel I had and I wrapped her up in it.

"Are you alright Hinata?" I asked her as I sat down beside her.

She was silent for a moment before saying, "N-n-n-n-no one has ever seen me do that", she stuttered, "I just do it to focus and blow off steam. I wanted to talk to Naruto-kun, but now I see that he's….. I just don't think he'd pay much mind to me."

"It was amazing", I said almost cutting her off. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and she went rigid. I could feel the heat from her face as she blushed.

"W-w-w-what?" she stuttered.

"It's really simple. I loved it. Your dance I mean, and I'm sure Naruto would have loved it too." Her face was probably crimson right now. I leaned my head in to look at her over her shoulder and we both stared up at the night sky.

My heart pounded as I fully processed my situation. _How the heck did I get in this position?! Keep your cool, Miki! Keep your cool!_

I gulped and held her closer, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Look. If you like Naruto so much, you have to tell him directly. He's not the kind of guy who can pick up hints easily. Otherwise you'll never get him."

Hinata looked down at her knees, but didn't say a word. "I promise you that telling him your feelings will help. You know what? I'll even give you a hand if you want. You can always show him what you can do out on the water."

Hinata took off the towel and walked behind a large boulder to change back into her clothes, "I'll need a little time to build up the courage to do so."

I smiled as she walked back out in her usual dress, "It's okay if you take your time. But don't wait forever."

She fidgeted a little, "Do you think he'd...like me?"

I lifted up her chin to look at me with a gentle hand, "I don't think, I _know_ he will."

I really can't explain how my next action happened. Without even thinking I leaned my head in and gave her a light peck on the lips.

"Go get him Hinata", I whispered as I walked back to the hot spring. Hinata was no longer blushing. She held her hand to her lips in surprise. But she smiled.

"Good night Miki", she said before walking back to the tent.

_Almost. Three, two, one!_

The moment she stepped out of sight I fell back into the hot spring. I had managed to hold back just long enough for Hinata to leave. I quickly ducked my head underwater and screamed. I couldn't believe that I had just kissed Hinata. _What was I thinking?! _

But I thought on that moment where my mind and self control had been completely absent. I remembered her soft skin, and those lips. I went a little overboard with this, but at least Hinata walked away with a smile, instead of fainting. Actually, _I_ was the one who almost fainted.

Then I felt ashamed for what I said. Granted it was advice that Hinata strongly needed. I felt ashamed because I failed to live what I preached. I was too nervous to confess myself.

I thought about this as I soaked. And before long, I changed clothes and headed back.

But what I saw snapped me out of my drowsiness.

The tent was open, _torn_ open. I dashed over to see that Hinata was gone. Someone had taken her! I took a deep breath and wolf howled at the top of my lungs. Within moments the crew had come out of the tent.

"What's the big idea?!" Sakura snapped at me for rudely awakening the group.

"Hinata's been kidnapped! There's no time to explain!" I dashed out to the woods where I detected Hinata's scent. I could smell blood, faint, but definitely there. I smelled a very familiar aroma, sweet and luring.

I then swiped my hands back past my feet and sprinted forward. My heels began to spark and electricity coursed momentarily in the places where I stepped. this was my latest jutsu, the Thunder Step. I learned that chakra, especially in its electric form provides immense amounts of power. By using lightning based chakra to boost my steps, my movement speeds tripled! Using chakra to enhance your speed is much more effective when you set it to a certain element.

I sprinted forward and put on my mask as I saw my target.

"Hey!" I barked as I drew my kunai and swiped at the target's neck. I missed by less than a hair. We both stopped on a pair of trees facing each other.

"What's the big idea?!" I growled, my arms sparking like tesla coils.

"This is not your place to decide her fate", a sweet girl's voice chided.

"It isn't your place to do that", I retorted.

She removed her hood and shifted under her cape to reveal a stunning girl. she had brown hair, violet eyes, and a very well shaped frame. Her stomach and some portions of her back were showing. And when she smiled I could see a pair of fangs glinting.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, sweetie. My name is Arachne."

"Miki of the Eclipse", I said fixing my headband on my forehead.

"So you side with the Leaf. Such a shame. Someone like you could have made a lovable partner." She snapped her fingers and I was suddenly snared in a spider web.

She let her cape fall to the tree branch and I saw a black mark on the side of her neck. It glowed red momentarily and I saw eight, shadowy forms extend from her back. Spider legs; smooth, black and at least thirteen feet in length each. She laid an unconscious Hinata on her branch and she slowly, but gracefully used her new appendages to walk (or is it crawl) over to my tree, almost seeming to glide. She looked me in the eyes, her face now only inches from mine.

"But since we're adversaries on the battlefield, I can toy around with you to my heart's content", she said seductively.

"Don't you dare try anything funny!" I growled at her, but she shushed me with a single finger.

"Be a good boy and hold still, if you don't want to get hurt. I haven't had a decent dose in over a week."

I saw where this was going a second before she reached forward and bit my throat. Her fangs drew blood and I winced. I understood now. No, Arachne wasn't a vampire. Rather it was a rare bloodline jutsu used by a family in the Land of Lightning. Members of this family could draw blood from any human and replenish their own chakra, and even heal mortal wounds in a matter of seconds. I learned this from my studies in the library at the Leaf.

If it could do that when she was injured, I could only assume that absorbing blood could provide her with a sensual high, maybe something more.

I know that many of you big readers have probably read a book or two that makes this situation seem extremely romantic. I'm going to set the record straight for you. It. Freaking. Hurts! I felt very little romantic emotion from this because of the physical pain she caused me.

She licked the wounds clean before she removed her lips from my neck. She easily took half a pint of blood from me. But at least my bleeding had stopped, it might have been her doing too.

She shivered with delight. "Delectable! I've only known one other person with a taste this good!"

"Don't look at me like some sort of snack stop, Arachne!" I hissed, "Now let us go before you get hurt."

"Isn't everyone a snack stop in my case. You weren't my first host", she pulled Hinata down and let her fall back into her arms, her neck exposed as her head rested to the side, "and you most certainly won't be my last."

I paled as I realized where she was going. "Don't even think about it. Take more from me if you feel so inclined but leave her alone!"

Big mistake on my part.

She smiled more, "I still have another taste to sample. I have always wanted to taste the blood of a Hyuga. Don't you worry though, she won't feel a thing. I'll be gentle with her."

Hinata's eyes opened just a little and she looked at me, "M-M-Miki", she whispered barely audible.

She groaned as Arachne's fangs sank into her throat. That sadistic spider looked back to me in a teasing manner. As I struggled, against the webs, i felt something fall from my belt and into my hand inside the web. I knew what to do now.

Arachne licked her lips as she finished. Hinata was breathing heavy in her sleep.

"So incredibly refined!" Arachne said in appreciation, "I expected nothing less from a member of one of the Leaf's noble families."

_Poof!_ I disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What?!" Arahcne said, putting Hinata down on a branch.

A scroll fell out of the bottom of the scroll and hit the ground.

_Poof!_ I reappeared in a puff of smoke and lunged at Arachne with a fire in my eyes. I swiped at her cheek with a kunai, leaving a cut. he just narrowly dodged that strike meant to strike at her throat.

"Damn you! I should have removed that scroll from your belt earlier", she said just before she landed ten feet back.

"No more cheap tricks. You won't surprise me a second time", I said as I extended a heavy chakra line, "I might not be able to use webs like you, but my chakra strings, chakra _ropes_ in this case, should suffice."

I quickly lashed the line at her like a whip, which she parried with a single spider leg. I immediately followed up with a second strike from my left. I kept the momentum with my right and swung it around. she blocked the first and got the other wrapped around her wrist.

"You do realize that chakra lines won't work on me, right? I know every trick in the book."

"So you think. You're in for a literally shocking discovery. Lightning Style: Lightning Line!" I sent an electric charge down the line like a wire. Arachne caught this and ripped away her hand from the line. Her wrist had already been severely shocked.

"Who's pulling cheap tricks now?" she said breathing heavily holding her injured hand.

"I'm far from done", I said charging both lines and swinging them at her. now she was much more wary and landing a hit was becoming difficult. I dissolved my lines.

"Alright, I've had enough", I revealed my Chronogan, "Clockwork Art: Spirit Gears!" In the air around me, a swarm of blue and silver gears floated.

"The Chronogan?" Arachne whispered. I sent several gears at her at once. Now she had to use all eight legs to fend them all off.

"That's impossible! Only one person has held the Chronogan!", But she looked to see that I was gone. The Gears all disappeared and Arachne whirled around in an attempt to find me. Something tapped her leg and she looked down to see a single scroll rolling into her foot.

_Poof!_ I popped out of the scroll with my claws extended. Arachne realized that the Spirit Gears were merely a distraction so I could sneak into close range. Her legs moved to try and catch me but by then, my claws had stabbed straight through her left hip, pinning her to the tree behind her. She coughed up blood.

"If you had complied like a good girl you could have walked away from this unharmed. But now you've made it personal!" Her spider legs disappeared, dissolving into black smoke. At the same time, I yanked out my claws and pushed her into a sitting position against the trunk of the tree.

"Now I want an explanation from you. Why did you kidnap Hinata Hyuga?" I hissed, "Cooperate and I'll spare your life." I held a claw to her neck. She looked at the claw, then to my Chronogan, almost with a sense of recognition.

"Kabuto", she coughed, "Requires a host for Orochimaru. Says that he needs the blood of a Hyuga." I tensed up and began my swipe at her neck, and she flinched. But I never cut her. I stopped the blade a hairs width from her neck.

"I believe you", I said removing the blade.

I walked over to retrieve Hinata, but I felt a cold presence in the air. Someone had found us.

"So", I turned to my three o'clock, "You must be the infamous Sasuke Uchiha that I've heard so much about." I said that in a mocking tone.

In the tree to my right was a boy my age with black hair, a white shirt and black pants. His eyes were cold and dark, an they flickered to a red pinwheel shape and back every so often. A short sword hung at his waist. I did not like this guy.

"You've been busy", he said in an emotionless tone.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know, Uchiha? You're earlier than we predicted. I guess that's a small price to pay for underestimating you." Something about this guy was affecting my own personality, making _me_ more aggressive. But I was able to limit myself before I got out of hand.

"When I saw your estate at the Leaf I assumed that your clan had died out completely. But it all turned out to be such a waste."

He extended his hand fired off several rounds of electric chakra needles. I summoned a set of Spirit Gears and they shielded me.

"It isn't wise to insult one of the noble families in such a manner", he said with a hint of hostility in his tone.

"'Noble'? Sasuke, from what I've heard, you are by far the least noble of any ninja alive or dead. You betrayed your team and village. I don't find that noble in the slightest." His eyebrow began to twitch, I was getting on his nerves. I was beginning to enjoy messing with Sasuke like this.

"Leaving to avenge the death of my clan is the most noble thing I could do. Now the Leaf must pay for their deaths. And you my friend are in no position to talk, Akila the Wolf."

"I'm afraid that you're mistaking me for someone else", I chuckled, "My name is Miki of the Eclipse. Never heard of Akila."

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment and chuckled lightly, "You can't hide from my Sharingan, Akila. I sensed that chakra of yours a mile away. And you hold the rarest of all ocular jutsus. I've learned that there's no such thing as coincidence." Arachne tried to sit herself up upon hearing that name.

"I never knew you before today", I said, "I'm afraid that your eyes, those precious Sharingan, are growing weak if you mistook me for someone else."

"No, my eyes see all, and I don't need them to know who you are." His Sharingan turned into something of a multi-orbital pattern, that high level that Kikashi spoke of.

Suddenly I wasn't in the forest anymore. I was in a dark room with stone walls and multiple corridors. In the middle of the room stood a little boy with silver hair and icy blue eyes. An old scar was on his lower lip. It was me as a child!

Behind him stood a boy with white hair, a dark vest, a Hidden Sound Headband, and glasses.

"So, Kabuto", a voice hissed from the shadows, in the manner of a snake, "This is that boy you spoke of."

"Yes, my lord. I believe that you will find interest in him."

Out of the shadows stepped a tall man who was horrifyingly pale. His hair was long and black, and his eyes were yellow and snakelike. he wore a tan robe with a purple belt and black pants. His tongue flickered like that of a snake from time to time.

"The Chronogan, and at such a young age too. I see potential in him, but we both know that it won't substitute the Sharingan. Nevertheless," he pulled a white snake fang from his belt, holding it behind my head, "I believe we will have some use for you, child." The fang lightly punctured the back of my neck and a black symbol formed.

Suddenly, a brief sequence of shots flashed before me. I saw blood, blades, and an evil laugh. It was horrifying.

_No! Get me out of here!, _I thought to myself.

Just like that, I was back in the forest. I fell to my hands and knees, shivering from what I saw. Someone had pulled me out of that Genjutsu. I looked off in the distance to see a blonde ninja just exiting a hand sign.

"Ino", I gasped as i tried to stand up. That jutsu had taken a lot out of me, both physically and mentally.

I dashed over to Hinata, performing a hand sign as I crouched over her.

"Thunder Mine!", I screamed and everything within a fifteen foot radius was blown away (except for Hinata who was safe in my arms). Sasuke was forced back and he pulled Arachne with him.

"Thanks", she whispered to him.

"Consider us even", he said without emotion as he put her down.

I fell back to my knees, and at the same time, one of Sasuke's needles shot through my chest.

"A parting gift", Sasuke said bluntly as he disappeared, Arachne going in a different direction.

I growled for a second before I roared, "**SASUKE!**" I officially hated that ninja. I picked up Hinata and began to run in the direction of the others. Ino was only a few seconds away (I found it odd that she was here; she wasn't assigned to this mission).

Then my legs gave way and I used the last of my strength to flip around so Hinata landed on top of me.

My vision was going dark. I could hear voices approaching. Naruto stood above me with Ino and Sai.

"Come on man!" Naruto shook me, "Stay with us here!"

"Naruto", I coughed, "Get Hinata back to the Leaf. She may have been", cough, "poisoned."

"Right", he said making a hand sign, all of a sudden ten clones appeared around him.

"I'm counting on...you", was the last thing I said before everything went black.

.

(End of Chapter 6)

.

Beowulf here.

What a chapter this has been!

Do you remember that OC I told you guys about in a previous Post Script? The one who was prowling around my test stories? That was Arachne! The purpose of creating her was to create something of a fem fatal or a romantic nemesis. After all, every Batman needs his Catwoman.

Now, to my friend **RoboDragon**, you guessed perfectly on how Miki would have his butt handed to him on a silver platter by Sasuke. If only he had listened to Kikashi's advice, "Never look him in the eyes." Miki's still unconcious right now, but I'm pretty sure he'll be raging about what I wrote about him once he wakes up.

I hope you all noticed Miki's trick at the very end of the chapter. He asked Naruto to bring Hinata back to the Leaf, not Sai who could have flown there. Miki managed to give Hinata an even bigger reason to confess her love ton Naruto and not one of the other characters noticed!

But at the same time, Miki has feelings for Hinata, but for some reason is still helping her get through to Naruto. Why exactly is beyond me. You'll have to talk to Miki yourself for answers, if and when he wakes up.

Finally, Ino was the one who pulled Miki out of that vision using her Mind Cleanse Jutsu (which may or may not exist in the anime/manga). This will provide an opening for her in Miki's already confusing love life.

I've got to go before Miki wakes up and blasts me into oblivion. He's going to have a lot of questions when he does.

A special thanks to my fellow Fan Fictionian, **RoboDragon, **for providing the support and advice that made a serious impact on the story.

Peace out my shinobi friends!

Beowulf out!


	7. Chapter 7: The Curse that Followed Me

Chapter 7: The Curse that Followed Me

That bastard left one bad taste in my mouth. I pictured myself in the heat of a duel with my least favorite ninja of all time: Sasuke Uchiha. Within moments I was cut down and Sasuke would walk away. I would force myself back up and fight him again, for a longer time but he sent me to the ground again. This repeated another three times, each time I seemed to hold the battle on for a longer time, and Sasuke was becoming slower. The last time I was certain that I had pinned him down but he finished this fight in a mere three seconds with speed that I was not prepared to face. I didn't get back up this time. This time he simply walked away, like I was some sort of toy that he'd grown tired of plying with. That scene he showed me flashed through my mind and I almost lost it. I growled out of hatred of him.

"SASUKE!" I roared at him before I bolted upright in my bed.

The doctors in the room jumped when they saw me awaken so suddenly. I was out of breath and my rage subsided to a sense of relief.

_I'm alive. Thank Kami, I'm still alive! _A pair of hands lead me back down to the bed. They were Ino's hands. Alongside her were Sakura, and Tsunade's assistant Shizune. That little piglet, Tonton was in Shizune's arms. Sakura was wearing a pair of surgical gloves, which she removed upon my awakening. Ino on the other hand was holding her hands above my chest with a greenish blue energy formation around her palms. Medical ninjutsu.

"Stay down", Ino said in a calm but commanding voice, "You need to heal up just a little more. You've been out of it for almost two days."

I smiled weakly, "Didn't think that you two were field medics."

"Lady Tsunade trained us", she said smiling.

**"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"** Sakura appeared beside my bed, "You rushed into a battle with Sasuke without even thinking and look where you ended up!" I shivered. That girl might be cherry blossom cute, but she could be downright scary at times.

"Sakura!" Shizune barked, "That's enough! Miki's quick thinking saved you from being killed in your sleep!"

My heart skipped a beat. I had almost completely forgotten. "Hinata", I wispered making everyone look up, "Where is she?"

Everyone was hesitant to respond. "Um."

"Is she alright?" I sat back up raising my voice a little. I had to know if she was alright.

"She's alright. She was infected by a poison from a rare breed of spider from the far west. She's out of immediate danger, but she'll be out of action for at a week", Shizune reassured me.

I sighed with relief, "Don't just go silent like that before you answer! It builds up too much suspense!"

I heard yelling from out in the hall and I walked over to see what was going on. Sakura tried to put me back in the hospital bed but Shizune held her back.

Looking down the hall and I saw Naruto round the corner followed by the rest of his friends.

"Gain way!" Naruto said and everybody dove out of the way of the shinobi stampede as they sprinted down the hall.

"We're coming Hinata!" Kiba yelled as they zipped past me. After they had advanced for some way, I saw Shino casually walking in the same direction, as though he was the only one who could handle this in a civilized manner. The hall behind them looked like a hurricane passed through. Papers, chairs, office supplies and a few employees were scattered around in a mess.

Suddenly, Tsunade was shoved out of the room where Hinata was, but she smiled, "Those kids just never change now do they?" but then she looked to me and rushed me back in my room, "Back in bed, Miki!" I had no choice but to comply.

I was laid back down and Tsunade brought me a little tea, "Miki, I'd like you to tell me what happened yesterday." So I proceeded to describe Arachne and how i believed that she had poisoned Hinata. I told her most of the details about my battle with Sasuke, but I left out part of the vision.

"You're leaving something out", Tsunade crossed her arms, "a motive perhaps."

I gulped before I said it, "Arachne, she's working with Kabuto, whoever that is. He needed the blood of a Hyuga for a man named Orochimaru."

Tsunade abruptly backed up into the wall behind her and her eyes were that of a cornered animal. Everyone else in the room shivered too.

"M-M-M-Miki", she stuttered, "Are you one hundred percent positive that you heard that right?"I nodded, "I'm one hundred percent positive. Who is he?"

She had a little trouble sitting down in the chair beside her. "He's an S-rank rogue shinobi who was one of the sonin in the third great ninja war. He was, an irreplaceable comrade."

"Was he your teacher?" I said sipping my tea, "I see an adequate age difference between one of the sonin and you, so I can only assume he was a mentor of sorts."

Sakura and Shizune both sweat dropped. Was I missing something?

Tsunade leaned on the arm of the chair, placing her hand under her chin, "Miki, how old do you think I am exactly?"

I shrugged, "Twenty-seven I suppose. You appear to be Kikashi's age."

Sakura face palmed. Okay, I was _really_ missing something.

"I assumed that Naruto's hinting would give me away but such was not the case. Orochimaru was my team mate. I am one of the sonin."

I spat my tea into the sink in surprise. "I don't believe it! There's no way that you're over thirty-five!"

"You'd be surprised how far medical ninjutsus can go", she sipped her own tea, "but we are getting off topic. Orochimaru defected after he was found to be performing experiments on live humans. He sought to master every jutsu possible but he would need to live much longer to even try. so he developed a jutsu that allowed him to take over the body of another person. Doing this, he can live indefinitely. And he continued his experiments using something called a curse mark. Sasuke defected to him to gain power. But Orochimaru planned to use him as an ultimate host body."

"Okay, so that means that he wants Hinata as his next one before Sasuke. But why her?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that the point isn't exactly who he chooses. It's the fact that he even needs a host now", Tsunade said, "You see, Orochimaru has been dead for a few months now, killed at Sasuke's hands. That can only mean that Kabuto has developed a method of completely reviving Orochimaru!" The air in the room grew cold. "And once he comes back, there's no doubt that he'll come straight for the Leaf."

That vision flashed through my mind for a moment. That snake man I saw, that was him.

"The Curse mark", I asked feeling the back of my neck where he pricked me with the snake fang, beneath where put my headband, "How exactly is it...placed?"

Tsunade stood up suddenly and removed my headband. Her hand went over her mouth as she looked. She backed up a moment then said, "Shizune! Go out and send for Anko at once!"

"Yes, Milady!" she stumbled as she ran out of the room, Tonton following close behind.

"Oh, my Kami!" Sakura said brushing the back of my neck with her hand, "This is bad."

"I was afraid you'd know what it was", I sighed.

A girl with dark hair and a tomboy appearance skidded past the door, then backtracked to us, "You called, Tsunade?"

"Orochimaru strikes again", Ino said pointing to the curse mark.

She briskly walked to me and examined the mark. All was silent as she closely inspected it.

"Yeah, this is definitely Orochimaru's work, not Kabuto's. But this mark is at least seven years old. The effects should have kicked in long ago."

"What effects?" I asked. Anko pulled down the side of her shirt collar to reveal a three dotted mark on the side of her neck.

"The mark feeds off of the host's chakra reserves like a parasite and can drastically alter one's personality if left uninterrupted. I should know because...Orochimaru was _my_ teacher at a point in time. And Sasuke is affected by a curse mark of his own. But if used properly, the mark can initiate inhuman physical changes that grant the holder immense power."

With that, Anko removed my shirt and began drawing a blood seal on my back. She then made a series of hand signs, "Brace yourself Miki, this will sting a little."

_Uh-oh._ The entire seal burned like molten metal and I suppressed my scream behind gritted teeth. I could feel the symbols moving, swirling around the curse mark until they were finally compressed into a ring around the mark itself. My back was left steaming after it was done and the burning stopped.

"Good Kami that hurts!" I growled, still reeling from the effects.

I now felt so weak that Anko had to help me put my shirt back on.

"But if you lost your memory", Tsunade asked, "How did you even know that the mark was there?"

"That was Sasuke's handiwork. He showed me a vision of me as a child being confronted by a snake man, I can only assume that he's Orochimaru. It showed him placing a mark on my neck that was identical to Arachne's. If Ino hadn't pulled me out of that jutsu I'd be a dead man."

Commotion filled the halls again as the young shinobi were lead out of Hinata's room.

Shizune stood in the doorway, "Miki, Hinata would like to speak to you."

"Not in his condition!" Sakura and Ino both said at once in the exact same tone. Those two were far too similar to each other.

I felt disappointed until a familiar voice spoke to me, "_You need a hand, Pup?"_

I sat up, "Coba?" I said out loud. The others looked at each other.

_"Twist your seal and I can give you a lift", _he promised.

"Alright buddy, I trust you. You better do some serious size adjustments", I said as i twisted my seal to my left. The eclipse separated into a full sun and a full moon ant the entire seal dilated like a camera lens.

Tsunade realized what I was doing and she said, "Miki! No!" _Poof!_ The seal was opened and a very familiar figure appeared beside the bed. Sakura backed up against the wall and Ino looked on with interest.

"In all due respect, Lady Hokage", Coba said as the smoke cleared to reveal an Akamru sized form of himself, "I'd appreciate it if you placed a little more trust in the Pup and me. I'm not one to hurt my own pack."

She stood there speechless for a moment and Ino said, "So Miki was a jinchuuriki this whole time?! Why don't you guys tell me about this sort of thing?!"

Coba knelt on his front left paw and bowed, "Pleasure to meet you all personally. As Miki made clear, I am Coba, the Split Tailed Wolf, and the youngest of the Tailed Beasts. And as the one who sealed myself in the boy, I am essentially Miki's adoptive father. I would like to second the Hyuga's wish to speak to Miki. I can provide his needed mobility for the time being." Tsunade regained her bearings.

"Very well. Since you apparently are capable of doing so, permission granted. But I would like to have him come back here as soon as he's done."

"As you wish, my lady", Coba stood up and allowed me to climb onto his back, just like how Kiba rides around on Akamaru, "I will bring him back here soon."

With that, Coba walked out of the room and down the hall. We got a few surprised looks from the doctors and nurses who saw us. I knocked on the door.

"Come in Miki", Hinata answered and I opened the door.

Inside of the room was Hinata's father and her cousin Neji.

"This is him", Hinata said to them.

Neji stood up abruptly at the sight of Coba, "The Split Tail. This boy is the...jinchuuriki?"

"Sorry to startle you, but I believe it was necessary for me to bring him in while he is in this condition. Coba the Split Tailed Wolf at your service. You summoned Miki, Lady Hinata?" She nodded with a smile.

Her father stood up and I sat upright. "I see that my daughter's rescue came with a small price. My apologies for getting you up now, but Hinata, Neji, and I wanted to express our gratitude as soon as we could."

"It's no problem", I admitted, "I tried to come down here myself to see if she was okay, but Tsunade wouldn't permit it until Coba spoke up."

He bowed down, surprising both me and Neji, "The Hyuga clan owes you a debt that we might not ever be able to repay. "Thank you for saving my daughter and the heiress to the clan, at such a cost."

I put my hand to my aching right rib cage where Sasuke had shot me, "I blame that injury of mine on that damned Uchiha. If he hadn't interfered I would have gotten away with nothing but a bite mark. I'm just glad that Hinata's safe now. She's a good girl, Mr. Hyuga."

"No," he put his hand on my shoulder and smiled, "so long as you have our thanks you may refer to me as Hiashi."

"Excuse me, Father," Hinata spoke up, "would you be alright if I could speak to Miki alone?"

"As you wish", he said as he and Neji began to leave.

"I will watch over them, Hiashi", Coba reassured.

"Again, thank you both", Hiashi said before the door closed.

Now that the room was secure, my heart beat harder.

Coba put me down on the other side of the bed, "I will leave you two alone for a minute, while you talk things over." _Poof! _He was gone.

A silence filled the room for about a minute.

"Miki", she whispered, breaking the silence, "Thank you."

"I told you before that it was nothing", I said.

"I meant what you did at the spring before", she specified.

"I'm sorry!" I said abruptly, "I wasn't thinking straight when I acted!"

"Actually", she fidgeted a little, blushing and smiling a little, "that kiss felt kind of...sweet." She hesitated for a moment but pulled me closer to her and let me lie down beside her. "Just rest a minute, you look like you're about to collapse and second." She was right, I did feel like I would collapse, not just from Hinata being so close to me.

She laid down beside me and looked at me with a smile, "But it's what you told me that I really have to thank you for. You're right, I have been a little...shy around Naruto. I'm...I'm going to try and talk to him when I get the chance."

I smiled, "That's more like it! I promise that you'll make a good impression on him, just you wait!" I felt her arms go around my neck and she blushed further.

"But before, I dive into this, I want to thank you for saving me, and inspiring me. I don't think I could have been able to do it without you. So...thank you." After she hesitated before those last words, she pulled me into a warm hug.

My brain short circuited, my sense of time went out the window, and I couldn't think of anything but the absolute excitement of this situation. At long last she pulled away and I felt like I was king of the world.

I sat up and summoned Coba once more, "Good luck out there, Hinata." We left and nodded to Hiashi and Neji as we went back to my room. Coba disappeared and I went back to sleep. I would have some sweet dreams this time around.

.

(Orochimaru Hideout)

One of Kabuto's henchmen came inside walking an injured Arachne.

"I see that our opposition gave you a hard time Arachne. Was it the Leaf?" Kabuto asked with interest.

"Yes", she nodded, "But they had some big friends with them."

Arachne thought about Miki. There was no possible way it was Akila. Right? She saw him die in front of her. She had been shattered by the words that left Akila's mouth that day.

"_I can't believe you now or ever again! I place my trust in one person, just to see if I had a heart after all! But now I know that you don't either! Bring my body back as a token!"_ but he was struck by lightning before he could slit his own throat. There was no body to bring back, only ashes.

Snapping back to the present, Arachne said, "The only reason I'm alive is because Sasuke saved me. I don't know for certain, but I think we might have just angered a ghost."

"That 'ghost' you speak of wouldn't happen to be my second favorite, would he?" a voice spoke up. Arachne bolted backwards as a figure wearing black pants stepped in. All else but his yellow eyes were covered by bandages.

"Y-y-you're alive?!" Arachne stuttered. _A second ghost?!_

"In the flesh once again, my dearest Arachne. I missed you so", the man put his hand under her chin and she blushed, "I had a feeling that my reanimation jutsu was missing something Kabuto. All it needed was a touch of my repossession jutsu. But why did you sew parts of my own body to yours?"

"All in the means of having you with me in spirit my lord", Kabuto bowed, "What is a student if he does not have his master to strengthen him every step of the way?"

The other man laughed, "Very good, Kabuto. I believe that Arachne is right. I have not seen Akila's ghost in the afterlife. This can only mean that he is still alive."

"If it is true", Arachne bowed, "I regret to inform you that he has sided with the Leaf. And he remembers none of us."

"Then we'll simply have to return him. It will be no different from Sasuke who we shall soon bring back as well."

With that, the man began to remove his bandages and his face was revealed.

"It's about time the Leaf learned that they can't just stamp me out so easily", Orochimaru said with a sinister laugh.

.

(End of Chapter 7)

.

HEEEYOOO! Beowulf is back!

I don't think you guys saw Orochimaru's return coming.

Now, I understand that Orochimaru makes his reappearance in episode 341 in the anime. But I have plans for how this will affect the story line.

I want to test just how the arrival of the Split tail will affect the course of the Ninja War itself and therefore, Madara's goals. With the changes this will make, I will try and implement this to the real story line as much as possible.

Again, I still don't get why Miki is trying so hard to make sure that Hinata wins over Naruto's heart. Granted I really want to see them together (after all, Sakura spent the past few years basically hammering Naruto into the ground in a literal sense). But the likelihood of Naruto giving up is highly unlikely. So why is Miki doing this? It's beyond me, he has a mind of his own. I just write his situations. I'll have to discuss this with him.

But could Miki really have had a past with Orochimaru, and Arachne for that matter?

Keep your eyes glued to the story and I'll return to you in the next chapter!

Beowulf out!


	8. Chapter 8: I Challenge You!

Chapter 8: I Challenge You!

I was surprised to find that I was admitted out of the hospital several days early thanks to Coba's healing abilities. I was beginning to lose track of then number of times that Canis Major had wound up saving my butt.

Tsunade had not yet disclosed this information to my friends yet, so I decided to surprise them, starting with Naruto. According to Yamato, my favorite knucklehead ninja brother was out in the woods being chased by that Konohamaru kid. So I followed their footprints out into a large clearing, with a waterfall and a massive crater in the ground. But it was made some time ago; grass was growing inside.

"You killed one of the Pains?! I didn't think you had it in you!" Naruto chuckled.

"Don't give me the credit Naruto, you're the one who took out the other four single handed! I might just be better at the Rasengan than you!"

"You wish! If you had seen the Rasenshuriken you'd be thinking otherwise!"

"You know what?!" Konohamaru pointed to Naruto, "I challenge you to a battle! I'll show you my true potential!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Naruto tightened his headband and cracked his knuckles, "You and I never got the chance to spar. Alright, but I have a set of rules for this battle."

"What?! That's not fair!" Konohamaru complained, "You don't get to make the rules!"

"Rule the first," he fixed his headband with a glimmer in his eyes, "anything and everything goes! That's it!"

"You scared me for a second! I thought your sensei was rubbing off on you!"

"Believe me my honorary student, he has", his eyes glittered as he chuckled to himself, "But before we start, **Summoning Jutsu!_"_**He slammed his palm into the ground and a puff of smoke arose. In the middle of the jutsu was red toad as big as a large horse!

"Yo! Naruto! What can I do ya for, pal?" he waved to Naruto in a friendly manner.

"Hey Gamakichi! Listen, Konohamaru and I were just about to spar and we need someone to judge the match."

"Sure! You ready? Good. Now! Begin!"

In an instant, both combatants made a cross sign with their index fingers and a hundred clones of each exploded onto the battlefield!

"Whoa!" I gasped, "Did you see that?!"

"I did", Coba replied, interested, "Kuruma says that the shadow clone jutsu on a large scale is one of Naruto's specialties. If my knowledge is correct, that Konohamaru kid was practically taught by Naruto. Our blond haired friend was the one who taught him the most difficult jutsu in terms of chakra control, the Rasengan. It was developed by his late father, the Fourth Hokage."

"Wow", I muttered, "So Naruto has a lot to live up to."

"Konohamaru all the same. His grandfather was the third Hokage, the one who taught Lady Tsunade. Wait...what the?! Miki, if you value your purity, don't look up!"

He was a little bit too late with the warning. Every last Konohamaru clone transformed into the form of beautiful young woman with long brown hair and curves that were beyond all comprehension. But every single one was only clothed by the smoke created on transformation, and that was quickly fading.

"Special Harem jutsu: One Hundred years of Bliss!" he said. I whirled around in the bushes and sneezed a short blast of blood from my nose.

"I have no words for that kid. No words at all!" I tried to wipe the image out of my mind. _I wonder if Naruto taught him that too._

"Konahamaru! Now's not the time for that!" Naruto face-faulted, "I mean, this iskw a serious battle and you know it!"

"You don't think I know that?" Konahamaru said turning back to the real him, "Then my jutsu worked perfectly!" It was only then that I noticed that twenty of the clones had mysteriously disappeared. The pebbles in the ground in front of Naruto's army exploded to reveal the missing Konohamaru clones, each with a Rasengan in hand! Naruto screamed in surprise as half of his clones were decimated by an overgrown Rasengan explosion at point blank!

"I see!" I gasped to myself, "That Harem Jutsu was merely a distraction so the clones could sneak right under Naruto's noses. I'm beginning to think that I underestimated the kid."

The armies went at it for over five minutes until only two were left, the originals.

"**Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu!" **Naruto said as he spat out several rounds of wind chakra blasts.

"**Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu!"**Konohamaru fired several fire based blasts at the same time and an explosion rocked the battlefield as the two attacks met.

_Poof!_ A rock behind Konohamaru turned into a crouching Naruto. His hands were in a rather strange hand sign that I've never seen before.

"Oh Kami, this is going to hurt", Coba sweat dropped, "That kid's done for now."

"**Leaf Village secret finger Jutsu!**" Naruto yelled as Konohamaru tried to turn around. But he was too late. Naruto had wound up his two handed strike like a punch and aimed his fingers at the last place I ever expected: Konohamaru's butt. Upon initial contact, Konohamaru screamed and was sent flying forward and out of the clearing altogether!

"**A Thousand Years of Death!"** Naruto grinned like a maniac, "Straight from the handbook of Kikashi sensei!"

I was unable to restrain my laughter as I cackled in hysterics, drawing attention from the combatants and their toad judge (the later of which disappeared upon me stepping in.

"And here I thought I'd seen some crazy jutsus! That takes the cake!" I said between laughs. I couldn't control it! That was partially because Coba was cracking up too, but not as uncontrollably as me.

I could feel my seal dilating a little and Coba appeared beside me in his Akamaru size, or "Social Size" as I liked to call it.

He was still chuckling as we approached, "A little unorthodox, Fox cub, but I suppose that habits can't always be helped. Students do tend to pick up on at least one of their teacher's secret tricks." He reached his hand out towards Naruto and twisted his hand slightly. Naruto went tense and all of a sudden, Kuruma, the Nine Tailed Fox himself, appeared beside him in social size.

"How...did you-"

"Don't act so surprised Uzumaki", the wolf told him, "I was the one who developed the first sealing jutsu used by the Sage of the Six Paths. I know their every inner workings and...'blueprints' like the tips of my tail, and manipulating them is just as easy once I figure out which one it is. How does it feel to finally stretch you limbs outside for once?"

Kuruma stretched out his legs and tails like a cat and yawn/growled, "I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually missed this world's blinding sunlight. It gets a little damp in that seal you know."

Konohamaru, walked in and said, "I don't feel so good. I'm heading home boss." He wobbled away

I winced, "That had to hurt."

"Yeah, it's one of Kikashi's tricks", he shivered, "You healing up fine?"

"Yeah, but I still want to give that damned Uchiha a piece of my mind. Tell me, why do you keep chasing after him? He's corrupted beyond repair."

"Not entirely so", he nearly interrupted me, "I'm done trying to bring him back. Sure, it would be great if he could change his ways somehow, but all he has now is hatred for everything and everyone who stands in his way. And as his team mate," he clenched his fists tight, "I have to be the one to stop him. I will follow my ninja way!"

"I don't think I could ever understand it myself", I confessed, "I never had a family, not that I know of anyway. right from the beginning all I had was Coba, until I met you guys. I just think all I needed was something to fight for. So when the time comes, I'll be there to help you fight Sasuke."

He smiled with relief, and we fist bumped, "Thanks man."

All hell broke loose.

From their conversation across the clearing, our tailed beasts returned to their seals and Coba warned me, "Arial attack! Get back now!"

We quickly got out of the way. about ten seconds later a giant beam of bright red energy struck the ground and created a cater two hundred yards wide!

In the far distance I could see three others, all pointing in the four cardinal directions within an eight mile radius. In the center of it all was a spectacular light show, like an aurora borealis on steroids! Finally there was a flash of light and it all disappeared. The only sign of this happening was that crater.

"Whaaaaaaa", my jaw dropped at how subtly that thing had just come and gone.

Naruto went stiff with shock and fell to the ground twitching occasionally, "What. The heck. Was that?"

"An interdimentional gate, similar to the one I used to return here and make you my host", Coba explained, "It seems that a certain someone has followed me here."

"What the heck is he talking about?" Naruto said as we all entered the mindscape.

"Do you remember what Kuruma said about me whenever I was born? Back then I was the weakest of the tailed beasts. The original reason I left was to hunt, to become stronger. And I did so throughout countless worlds with their own powers and monsters, some of which even had a...slightly distorted knowledge of our own world. In all honesty, I was not the only one who was out for power. In parts of this universe and all others, there are beasts that are strong enough to be considered tailed beasts. But there was one in particular who sought tirelessly to ensnare me for a portion of my power. I have reason to believe that _she _is the one who came here. We have to catch her before someone else does!"

And with that we were off.

I couldn't believe it! Another tailed beast! Forget battling Sasuke, this is going to be a real battle!

I would have asked Coba exactly who it was, but I could feel him boiling with a suppressed rage. Whoever it was, he did not like it.

"I'm picking up multiple chakra signatures tying to intercept us", Kuruma said, "Prepare to attack in a volt-face on my mark."

Naruto made twenty clones of himself and I drew my claws. I could see the shadows of our would be assailants against the ground by some trees.

"Now!"

We both bounced off a tree, him to the right and me to the left, as we caught nine shinobi off guard. I roared at them as I tore through three and Naruto's army took out four.

"Akila?" one of the remaining ninjas backed up upon seeing me, "Is that you?"

"If you have that notion in your head then you must be a henchman of this Kabuto I've heard about."

_Poof! _He and his partner were both replaced by a pair of logs. _I hate substitution jutsu's. _

_._

_(Orochimaru's hideout)_

"Sir, this is not what you said would happen!" Kai, objected.

"You may speak when spoken to", Orochimaru shut him up, "As promised, she will not become a host. You have my word."

"That's not the only thing I meant!" Kai looked to Arachne's motionless form, floating limp above the jutsu formation. She was unconscious, but grimacing in pain. That colorful chakra clouded by the celing was slowly flowing into the seal on Arachne's navel.

"You misunderstand child", Orochimaru continued, "Pain is but a sacrifice that we must bear in our pursuit for power, and our dearest Arachne knows this fully well. If it brings you any comfort at all, she chose to be part of this. And once she's been awakened, she'll be in a better shape than she's ever been in before. Please just understand that my subjects will be informed of exactly what they will be going through."

He began to walk away, but stopped and turned to Kai once more, "What we do need to worry about is that boy's arrival. You understand that he has a long history with Arachne. As such we need to keep him out of the lab at all costs. Once he smells the blood of those who sacrificed their lives here in the name of science, there's no doubt that even I will have an unlikely chance of beating him. Is that understood?"

"Yes Master!" he flickered out of existence, and Orochimaru turned to see Arachne stirring.

"My...lord?" she muttered and Orochimaru held her hand just to make sure that she didn't start having second thoughts. It was imperative that she be the one to do this and that she be as calm as possible. So he had to be cautious. "It hurts", she groaned.

"It will be worth it in the end, child. We just need you to bear through one last trial for us." Orochimaru assured her Just as two more ninja entered.

"Lord Orochimaru, we've encountered opposition to the southeast and our men are dropping like flies!"

"Enemy numbers?" Orochimaru turned to them.

"Only two! One of them has been identified as the Nine tails Jinchuriki."

Now Orochimaru was concerned. "They've found us. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"The other...it's Akila, no doubt about it", the second one said, further concerning Orochimaru.

"Alright then, make sure that you activate the countermeasures. We know how he fights. We trained him to fight. We should know every flaw in his fighting style."

"That the other thing I wanted to tell you about", the second one told him, "Akila, Miki of the Eclipse as he put it, he's gotten stronger. His fighting style has drastically changed, he possesses a chakra level stronger than anyone I've ever seen!"

"How interesting", Orochimaru mused, "It appears that our little stunt will provide us with a valuable asset in due time. Very well then, it looks like I'll have to run a quick errand. I will need you two to guard Arachne for me while I go out and seek out our lost sheep." With that he steepped out of the room. and the guards took up their positions.

.

(Miki)

"I just can't believe that he's still alive!" Guard number one said to guard number two and they both went up in smoke to reveal Naruto and me respectively.

"Took me long enough to make that single clone", I stretched, "I really need to work on that." Coba appeared beside me.

"I knew I recognized that chakra", he looked up to the chakra collecting, "Lisandra, the Weaver of the Northern Lights."

Upon hearing that name, the chakra mass shook as it attempted to escape its container.

"You!" a woman's voice growled, "How dare you approach me at such a time. Some 'Noble Hunter' you are."

"Lisandra, now is probobly the least appropriate time to start a fight", Coba said as he approached and four gleaming eyes shown from the chakra mass, "Right now we need to focus on getting you out of here!"

"Tell me now human", she directed at me, "Where am I?"

"The Elemental Nations, Land of Fire", I elaborated.

"Thank you. Now let me out!"

"I'm afraid that letting you out is officially out of the question", Coba told us, "What I meant was getting you and your new host out of Orochimaru's hands."

"WHAT?" Lisandra and I both said at once, and I picked up, "There is no way that we are bringing Arachne allong with us! You saw what she almost did to Hinata!"

"You mean she did that?" Naruto growled and pulled out a kunai.

"Stop!" Coba barked, "It's the sealing jutsu, very complex. I'm afraid that it's too late to stop the bond. Even with my knowledge of sealing jutsus I won't be able to stop it in time. What I can do is speed up the process." As he said it, Coba threw all of his power into flooring the process.

Arachne's eyes shot open and she suppressed a scream. "Stop it! I can't take this much longer!"

"I need one more minute! Miki! I need you to do something to help her! The jutsu will kill her if we can't keep her emotions in check!"

Arachne then looked to me and said, "Akila! Please help me! I'm sorry!" tears began to fall to the ground.

"What do you expect me to do?!" I raised my voice, "I am not Akila! I may have the curse mark, but I am not affiliated with Orochimaru!"

"You are Akila!" Coba snapped at me and all went silent. Even Lisandra went still.

"But you told me that it was nothing but a genjutsu. Sasuke was trying to make me weak", I recalled.

Coba made a seal on the ground and it connected to the original sealing jutsu and he sighed.

"I lied! I didn't want the old you to come back; the Akila that was beneath the curse mark. I was not going to let you throw your life away a third time!"

"A _third _time?! How much are you going to keep hidden from me?!" My body slowly became enveloped by a shining sliver chakra cloak with a wolf's tail. Coba began to struggle with his seal.

"Miki! Stop it! That's the Tailed Beast Cloak! You have to calm down before you lose control!" Naruto tried to reach my shoulder but received an involuntary electric shock, pulling his arm back.

"He's right!" Coba growled, "That cloak is putting a strain on my powers as a whole! I can't keep this up much longer!"

"I know that!" I snarled.

"You need to calm down now, or she'll die!" Coba told me.

"Not until you tell me what is going on!" I yelled, "I'm not going in blindly anymore!"

"That will have to wait until later!" Coba began rapidly tapping parts of his glyph in an effort to regain control, "What I need you to do is ease Arachne's pain, before she dies and Lisandra is released! And if it helps, if it means anything at all, if there was one person you would have sacrificed your life to save back then, it's her!" As soon as he said that, I was sent into a brief flashback.

(Flashback start)

I stood in the center of a large underground arena with my claws out and covered in blood. Two henchmen were dragging someone out of the arena. Orochimaru, a guy with glasses (I assume that he was Kabuto), and Sasuke Uchiha all sat in the stands. The former sonin appeared pleased.

"You've progressed much faster than I've anticipated. I have one last challenge for you." He snapped his fingers and a gate opened. Inside was none other than Arachne. A pair of chakra shackles were on her wrists and were immediately unlocked once she stepped in.

"Finally", she stretched, "I get to face a real opponent! Akila the Wolf!"

I huffed lightly, but didn't say anything in response. Then Orochimaru signaled us to start.

Arachne flickered in front of me and slashed with a gauntlet with a single claw over her index finger. But I dodged easily. Then her spider legs came out of nowhere and pinned me to the ground, one speared my left shoulder and I grunted.

"Very nice", I complimented, "I haven't had to use this in a long time." As I said this, my curse mark began to spread across my body in a prickly fur-like formation. My arms from the elbow down began to grow a little in size, and a long furry appendage snapped out, and sent Arachne to the ground. A wolf tail.

I quickly removed the spider leg from my shoulder and twisted it behind Arachne's back and she screamed. With my now enlarged fist I slammed her to the ground and her spider legs dissolved. I had won.

Orochimaru now applauded me in the booth.

"Finally, at long last you've reached the top of the ranks", Orochimaru said, "You know the drill, boy. Finish her off."

"No! Please no!" Arachne said as she tried to get away and two guards caught her, dragging her back to me on her knees.

"I'm sorry", I said as my claws extended and I prepared to make the final blow. Arachne cringed, closing her eyes. But instead, I killed the two guards who held her in place, before they could even register what happened. "Like I said Master, I'm sorry. This is one order that I can't follow."

"What is the meaning of this?" he hissed, "She is wounded weak. I have no further use for her." Then I flickered into the booth and put my claws to Orochimaru's throat. He tried to speak but couldn't.

"You said it yourself, I reached the top of the ranks didn't I? For over two years I have been undefeated. But Arachne was the only person who has been able to wound me, let alone put a scratch on me! And you actually have the nerve to call her weak?!" I left a small scratch on his throat and flickered back to the arena, "If you truly see me as elite, as you promised me, you will understand that even I can make my own decisions. And I trust that you will allow a request. Spare her life." All others watching shrank back at my actions, not wanting to watch what happened next.

"How dare you give orders to Orochimaru!" Kabuto's hand started to glow as he prepared to take me on. But Orochimaru's laughter stopped him.

"Stand down Kabuto. Perhaps it's time that we let the Wolf out on a longer leash", then he turned to me, "In all of my time of studies, I cannot recall a single time when one of my own subordinates has taken the initiative to challenge me like that. It takes a brave soul. But of course you have already proven your right to do so." He pulled out a glowing key from his robes and crushed it in his hand. A seal on my neck shattered, "You have indeed risen to the top of the ranks, boy. And as such, like Kabuto and Sasuke, you may do as you please. Just remember that I am still your master in the end."

"Absolutely sir", I bowed. And he tossed me another glowing key, the one to the cuff seals on Arachne's wrists.

"And per your request, her life will be spared. But keep in mind that as such, I am completely relinquishing my authority of Arachne. In other words, she is all your responsibility now." He turned and exited the room, as did everyone else. Now only Arachne and I were left.

I helped her to sit upright, but she immediately assumed a kneeling position with her hands cuffed behind her back. "Thank you for sparing me. I take full responsibility for this, so...do to me what you see fit", she struggled to finish the last part, "Master." But she was shocked to see me pass the key through the seal and unlocking her.

"First thing that we need to cover is that I am not your master and you are not my slave. We are equals and I'm merely keeping this," I put my key in my pocket, "to make sure that all goes smoothly if my assumption was wrong. I don't care what the others say, you are my equal."

"But, I don't understand."

"I don't exactly get it either", I shrugged.

"But why did you save me?" she insisted, grabbing my shoulders.

"I think the real question is 'why not'", I asked, then tilted my head and smiled, "Wolves tend to do that."

Tears slowly dripped down her cheeks as Akila, my past self, wiped them away. Slowly she slid her arms from my shoulders to around my neck. "Thank you!" she whispered and finally did something that genuinely shocked my past self: she kissed me.

(End flashback)

.

I don't know exactly how long I was out of it, but when I woke up I held Arachne, curling up tight as the last of Lisandra's chakra was sucked into the seal on her stomach. I felt a slight sting on my neck and found that Arachne had bitten me not long ago, probably using my blood to ease her pain. As I watched, the double trigram seal was being orbited by two red triangles which eventuallyslammed together to form a red hourglass, over the first seal. Coba sighed with relief.

"It is done. Lisandra won't be bothering us again, not even through Arachne's hands", he confirmed.

"I don't think we'll need it", I murmured. I guess Arachne wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe 'misguided' would be a more appropriate phrase.

"Akila?" I looked down to Arachne after she asked, still in a bridal hold.

I smiled weakly, "Yeah, its me. I've changed quite a bit, but I'm still here. Just for the record, my name is Miki now." I hesitated for a moment, but I leaned in and gave her a brief kiss on the lips after warning Naruto about a "top secret jutsu" that I supposedly invented, and that he shouldn't look. But Arachne put her hands behind my head and made a comeback in a much more passionate way.

We were interrupted by a loud whistling sound and a loud crash that sounded throughout the compound.

"Guys? What's happening?!" Naruto said.

"I think I know", Coba said, "Now's our chance to leave. Orochimaru's going to be kept very busy by his expected house guest. If I know him correctly, that boy will be out for blood."

(End of Chapter 8)

.

FINALLY! BEOWULF HAS RETURNED!

Before anything else, I would like to sincerely apologize for not posting here for nearly two months but I had two major problems holding me back.

First was a horrible case of writer's block. I've had to completely rewrite parts of this chapter several times over! It was horrifying!

Second (not really a problem though) is my sudden success in my RWBY fanfic, _Wings of Remnant,_ which suddenly jumped to over a thousand views within the course of a few weeks.

For future reference, I won't abandon a story unless I directly say so. And I will not abandon my stories easily.

But in any case, don't think that Miki's troubles are over. There's still a lot to his past that even I don't know.

But the next chapter's going to bring a big surprise, with a blood bond that won't easily be broken. But who could possibly be strong enough to actually make Orochimaru nervous?

Until next time fellow shinobi! This is Beowulf signing out!


	9. Chapter 9: Resolve

Chapter 9: Resolve

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

I backed up a step back as Tsunade barked at us. Naruto just snickered, scratching the back of his head.

"Naruto, I had this perfectly planned out. You didn't have to put it like that", I growled to him.

"Come on! We just raided Kabuto's hideout and got away without a scratch! You're making us lose our thunder!" he said with that foxy smile.

"You may want the thunder, but now we have to deal with the lightning!" I deadpanned.

"Listen up you two!" Tsunade yelled at us, "You both better have an explanation of apocalyptic proportions this time!"

"Cool it, Tsunade", I growled, a split second flare of my tailed beast cloak shut her down, "I'm not in a good mood as it is, so I'll just cut straight to the chase." I pulled out a scroll and summoned Arachne from it, still curled up and unconscious.

"Orochimaru got his hands on a monster from another universe, one with powers comparable to a tailed beast. This girl, Arachne," I motioned to her, "is its host, its jinchuriki. Coba was capable of safely sealing it away to an extent where only he can free it."

"Dammit! A _third _tailed beast in this village?!" Tsunade growled.

"The beast is not on our list of priorities now", I told her, "Take her into custody and give her some medical attention." I began to walk away.

"Hold it, Miki!" Tsunade yelled, "You can't just walk away like that!"

"I need to step back for a day or two", I said in a tone comparable to the way that Sasuke speaks, "Anyone who interrupts me might return to the Leaf in a stretcher."

With a deep breath, I took a running start and rocketed out of the open window. I didn't care where I went. I just ran.

.

I reached a large wall of jungle inside of a fenced area, and I leaped over the fence.

"Bad call, Pup!" Coba said with a heavy tone of warning, "This area is for the second stage of the chunin Exams! It's overrun with monsters!"

"Do you think I care?" I growled quietly as I walked.

Soon, I could see sure signs that this was a training ground. Old craters littered the ground. Trees were blasted to splinters. Old kunai and shuriken from traps remained. Clues were becoming more and more evident every minute.

Clues.

Right then, it was the word I hated the most. When I first woke up, I was dying to get my hands on as much information about my past as I could. Perhaps I could find my way back to my real place of origin. But when I searched for my past, I only received answers about the present, starting from the moment I woke up.

But as soon as I felt like I was okay with my life, clues of my real past popped up when I wasn't looking for them, when I didn't care.

The truth was looking to be something even worse than I could picture. Now I didn't even want to know about who I was….._what_ I was.

And then Arachne. She could be a perfect girl. But there was just one problem. She embraced my former self more than anyone else.

What I told her back in Orochimaru's hideout was said in a moment of weakness. I wasn't thinking correctly. That was Akila doing the talking. All the more proof that I was that monster.

"Coba," I said as I calmly ducked beneath an activated kunai trap, "can you erase my memory again?"

"No", Coba replied, "I can't make you go through that again. Another mind wipe will cause permanent brain damage."

"I'd rather have that than know the truth. Akila isn't dead yet. So long as he isn't then our roles are reversed. The jinchuriki is the monster, not the other way around."

"That's why I took you in", Coba said, "to change that."

"Well, it didn't work. My memory wasn't completely wiped."

"No, it was. Tsunade said it herself that those flashbacks were all chakra induced. Something else interfered. It's possible that Sasuke's Sharingan triggered it."

"That's impossible", I said, "I was taken into Orochimaru's watch long before Sasuke was. How would Sasuke know _exactly _what happened when I met the rogue?"

"I'm not sure. WAIT!" Coba said suddenly and I stopped in a large was filled with windblown sand and needles covered the ground from a fight. Dried blood coated the ground as well.

"What is it now?" I groaned.

"You don't feel it? There's an _old_ chakra signature from several years ago. It's…..Shukaku!"

"The one tailed tanuki?" I asked.

"Yes! The sand is a sure sign that Gaara was here at some point. He took his Chunin exams here with Naruto and the gang. Back then, he was still a jinchuriki, and an unpredictable one at that. That was back before Sasuke was corrupted."

"Before everything turned upside down for the Leaf, huh?" I bent down and picked up some sand, letting it sift through my fingers.

But as I blinked, I sensed my Chronogan activate on its own. The hands on both "clocks" slowly began to turn counter clockwise. Gradually they sped up until one couldn't even see the hour hand!

"Miki! Get back!" Coba barked, but it was too late.

I was forced into a "flashback".

I saw this same battlefield. This time Gaara was fighting a group of needle throwing ninjas. Gaara caught one in his sand, and with a demonic grin, he crushed the poor man. I grimaced, as though I could feel the victim's pain.

The scene switched to Rock Lee protecting Sakura. Then it switched to Naruto holding off a giant snake from eating Sasuke. Then it flashed to a scene where Orochimaru himself battled Team 7 and eventually bit Sasuke in the back of the neck. The scene where I was bitten flashed for a split second before returning to that scene.

"You'll find your way back to me eventually boy", the former Sonin spoke to Sausuke before looking off into the distance…which just so happened to be in the direction of my vantage point, "You'll come to me in search of power and answers. Regardless of what you may think, I am a part of you now."

"SHUT UUUUUUUP!" I howled as I force myself back to reality. My Chronogan spun like a saw clockwise as the hands resumed the previous position. Time ticked on normally, 3:30 PM and fifty seconds.

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered quietly as I put two and two together.

It wasn't the Sharingan that triggered it at all! It was my own Chronogan!

"Oh Kami", Coba muttered in almost panic.

"I see now", I sighed, "It's just like the Byakugan. Those eyes see through space itself. But my eyes see through time."

All was silent for a moment before I began to quietly shake in absolute terror.

"So that means that no matter what I do, my past will still come back to haunt me."

Not but the very moment I said that, my Chronogan activated again! But this time there was only one split second scene.

In this one I saw two people walking down the street of an unknown village. The woman was probably in her late twenties. She had Icy blue eyes and had shoulder length black hair. She was rather beautiful, actually.

The other one was a man who was probably in his mid-thirties. He was well toned and had a massive mane of white hair.

The two were walking and talking happily in the split second, and before I could even make out anything else, my vision ended.

I held my head in a sudden dizziness.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Don't look at me", Coba shrugged, "I don't know. But then again, that man….looks rather familiar."

"Again, more questions than answers", I sighed standing up again, "Coba, I want you to unlock the curse mark."

"Are you insane?!" he said, "You saw what that did to Sasuke!"

"If I'm stuck like this, then I have to make use of everything at my disposal, and that includes the curse mark. There may come a time where I'll need the extra boost of power in addition to yours. I need to learn how to use it _now_, rather than on the field of battle. All I need right now is for you to hold the seal open so I can use it, and then close it once we're finished. I just want to learn to control it before it controls me."

My tailed beast growled like the animal he was, "Fine. But the moment I sense you acting or thinking funny, I'm shutting it down."

The seal grew warm before separating into three rings, which twisted in different directions, before dilating and opening. It was as though Coba was picking a lock. But the mark began to burn more.

The effects were instantaneous.

In a split second, I saw a splash of blood and heard a metallic slicing sound. Flashback.

From the recesses of my mind, I felt…hungry. Hungry for action, for battle, and for blood. It was almost as though I was holding a second person's thoughts, perfectly coexisting beside my own. But then again, I actually was.

Those were Akila's thoughts.

"I don't like this, Pup", Coba said with a growl from deep in his throat.

"It's alright. I'm still in control", I assured him, "Of course if I didn't…..I see. So that's what Sasuke had to deal with."

"Hmmm?" Coba questioned without a word.

"Dual personalities. Sasuke was cold to begin with. The mark draws out bloodlust. I guess that the path of blood was something that lined up with Sasuke's goals in the end."

Of course, I had felt bloodlust before, during the boar hunt. That time whenever I was actually hunting for sustenance, like a wolf, was the only case where Coba had ever supported primal instinct, let alone induced. That one time had nothing to do with the Curse Mark.

"Don't let that separation fool you", Coba warned, "The more you engage in battle, the more your thoughts as well as Akila's will align."

"That's where you come in. Remember? Alright then. Here I go."

The Curse mark grew warm, almost searing hot, as fiery marks stretched down my shoulders and across the rest of my mortal coil. The marks were just like I saw in my flashback in Orochimaru's hideout. They were prickly, pointing back up my arms like fur.

In response, Akila's thoughts grew just a bit louder in my mind, but I could still ignore him. My chakra levels increased.

"Do you feel that?" I asked. I could feel countless chakra signatures from all around me. But almost every one of them was an almost minuscule level of power. But then I realized that what I sensed was that chakra of the forest itself. Every squirrel, every tiny little ant (very difficult to spot), and even every single tree (especially those trees) had its own chakra. And as a whole, that power was…well, huge!

"The Curse Mark is a form of senjutsu", Coba reminded me, "Like sage jutsu, it can let you sense other chakras-"

"And can let me draw from them", I nodded before sitting down cross-legged with my eyes closed. I listened to everything, all at once. Peace. It was wild, it was untamed, but there was peace. I smiled as I in turn was filled with calm. Even Akila's instincts were nearly drowned out.

The Curse Mark was easily a dangerous power to anyone, especially the user. But I had successfully found a way to use this rage inducer to clear my mind!

_HISSSSSSS!_

That sound snapped me out of meditation and I instantly leaped into the air on reflex. Where I was sitting a moment ago was the giant head of a snake. If this thing coiled up, it would easily be as tall and wide as the Hokage's residence!

But this time, Akila came back with a roaring vengeance. Acting on raw instinct, even for a moment had triggered his resurfacing.

"Miki! I'm shutting it down!" Coba said. But I landed in a tree and stopped him.

"Wait. There's no need to shut it off right now", I said still in full control, "This thing is a monster that tried to eat me alive, not a human being. I say we let Akila ride. Perhaps if I know what Akila's like from a first person perspective, I can learn to control him…..or myself rather. Think of it like that boar hunt."

"Oh!" Coba's eyes gleamed in sudden understanding, "I see where you're going with this, Pup. Fine, but don't get cocky!"

That hunger for battle roared as Akila fully emerged. So many emotions ran through my mind in mere moments. I was excited by the challenge. I was downright terrified by the building sized monster that was trying to eat me. I felt absolutely enraged that this thing thought of me as prey.

I enjoyed every last one of them.

"Who was I kidding", I chuckled lightly to myself, "I was always the hunter, and here I was trying to run away from my own nature. Pathetic!" I leaped down to the ground and slowly approached the giant, my eyes turning yellow when I blinked, "I needed this!"

In that moment, I activated Stage three of the Curse Mark. I growled as the jutsu made my hands grow larger and now I had a wolf's tail. My skin had turned dark grey, and the black markings made it genuinely look like I had a fur coat.

Finally, I activated the tailed beast cloak, drawing directly from Coba's reserves. The very moment that it happened, my real tail split in two at the midpoint to perfectly match the split tail from the chakra cloak.

I howled and made a mad dash for the snake and clawed away.

"Wait! Wait!" Coba barked, "I didn't say to go full power!"

"This is how I fight!" I yelled as I leaped back. I was having serious difficulty in making any deep cuts.

"But you're losing control! If you keep this up, you'll lose it for good! You'll put them all at risk, the family you needed will suffer if you're like this! I'm shutting it down!"

"THEY WON'T!" I snarled at him. We were silent for a moment as I stared down the giant serpent in front of me.

"How would you know?" Coba said, "If you're like this, how can you guarantee their safety?"

"It's because they're my pack", I said much quieter, my eyes turning back to blue for a split second.

"I think I finally understand now", I said, "It's just like you told me. You should never be a lone wolf. But all this time I've been nothing but alone. Without their pack, wolves are pure hunters, raw instinct alone. That's what I've been all this time. But that changed when you saved me. Now I see exactly how Sasuke felt.

"What are you saying, Miki? Or is it just Akila doing the talking?" Coba let his growl die a little.

"I was right in what I said about the Curse Mark. Sasuke went bad because his goals and the influence of his mark aligned in some way. Now I see that my goals and these instincts match as well.

"So no, the Leaf won't ever have to worry about Akila's rage because they've done something to gain quite the opposite. You all gave me a family and took me in. And deep down, deeper than Akila's hunting instinct, was my drive to find my place from square one. Deep down, that's why I saved Arachne.

"In the end, my driving urge is to fight, and now I finally understand that I never needed a leash to keep the Wolf in check. In fact I need the Wolf as much as it needs me!"

"Tell me then. How? How can both of those come hand in hand?" Coba asked coldly, "You're not making sense."

The snake hissed at me and reared its head back for the strike.

"Isn't it obvious? If I'm going to be the hunter, the killer, I fight hunt and kill for my pack! I may be Miki now, but so long as I fight for the Leaf," my left eye switched to the Chronogan while my right remained yellow, "Akila and I are one in the same!"

I dashed forward and the snake tried to strike, but missed but inches. Its tail whipped around, forcing me to jump high into the air. My Chronogan slowed time for both me and Coba.

"I see", Coba closed his eyes in our inner world, "I am glad to know. But don't get too comfortable. Regardless of your complete motive, there are still patches of your past that must remain forgotten."

"I have to agree with you on this one", I nodded with both personalities at work.

"But for now, I have one last thing of the past that I can bring back. Besides your lightning and wind, you have earth based chakra as well. And back then, your Chronogan let you combine two of them exceedingly well."

My eyebrows raised suddenly as I understood his point. Somehow, I had a brief memory of an old elemental release. Only now, I was going to put a spin on it.

I shut down my Chronogan and aimed an open palm down towards the snake.

"Now, **Dancing Steel Release: Paladin Pierce Jutsu!**" My Chronogan manifested and mixed my earthen and electric chakras form a five foot long, diamond shaped blade which rocketed down towards the snake. The projectile buried itself halfway into the snake's side before I landed and fired more.

"Come and get me!" I taunted as the snake dove and I fired, only for it to dodge. For a few minutes, we both took turns striking, dodging and chasing each other until the entire clearing was filled with the giant spikes that stuck in the ground.

"Now for the grand finale!" I cackled as I leaped on top of a much larger spike with a blunted top, smack dab in the center of the clearing. I knelt down and made my favorite hand sign.

"**Lightning Style: Circuit Break Jutsu!"** the sky crackled as a lightning bold came out of the blue and struck me. This time, the energy was channeled into the spike I stood on, immediately branching out to each and every spike in the battlefield!

The giant snake hissed in agony as it was caught in the trap. My claws extended as I made like Jonah and jumped into the beast's mouth.

_SHING!_

The snake went still and then dropped dead as its head was severed, just behind the skull. I landed on the ground, slightly splattered by the snake's blood.

I immediately shut down the jutsu, the Chronogan, the tailed beast cloak, and the Curse Mark. Coba then closed the seal around it.

"I told you I would learn to control it!" I elbowed Coba in our inner world.

"I'll bite _your_ head off if you start rubbing it in", Coba growled, showing his fangs, "And understand that resuming Akila's psyche is still only going to be a last resort. That is in no way negotiable."

"Sir, yes sir", I muttered, "Oh, and thanks for showing me that trick."

"That might be the only time I bring back bits of your memory, so make the most of it", Coba laid down on the floor of the inner world and yawned.

The moment he finished, my Chronogan went crazy, listing blueprints under currently buildable with items on hand.

"The Steel Dance…Coba! I have to try this!" I made a mad dash for the Den with a sense of "Eureka!" screaming in my head.

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(3rd person)

_POOF!_

The very moment that Miki stepped outside of the testing grounds, the giant snake exploded in a giant cloud of smoke.

"How?" Kai stepped out of the shadows. The young Sound village cadet was completely shocked. He didn't believe it at all.

"Having trouble, Kai?" Orochimaru said over the radio.

"Very much so. There's no doubt about it. That was _definitely _Akila. And he completely tortured and butchered your snake!"

"Yes, its corpse just returned from your summoning. Let's see….odd. Electric burns. Akila only uses lightning chakra in his Steel Dance release."

"He's mastered using both and it's a deadly combination."

"I can imagine so", Orochimaru hissed with interest.

"My lord, I don't like this. He's even more brutal than he was before. And his power is…..there's no way that he's still human!"

"How interesting", the rogue mused, "I want you to follow him. Watch his movements and study him carefully. He'll come back soon enough. Only I know who he is and what he's done to become the Wolf. If his memory really has been wiped enough for him to join the Leaf, he'll be desperate for answers."

(End of Chapter 9)

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HEEEEEYOOOOOO! Beowulf here after nearly the biggest fricking hiatus of my career!

Nine months…that's how long it's been since I last updated this story. Miki really has been itching for some action and he gets rather irritable when he has to watch the rest of the crew from the sidelines. He's had to spar with the 1st gens in his spare time. And since that point, NaruHina officially became canon, along with several other pairings that I was completely unprepared for. As this story will try to stick to canon, this limits Miki's potential pairings significantly.

Oh wait…..I don't think I've ever told you about the first gens have I…[papers rustling]…..[tapping keys]…nope. Never mentioned them before. And since I don't have anything else to talk about right now, I'll explain. So friends and countrymen. Lend me your ears if you would.

I may have mentioned before that I've written stories off the grid, full length novels actually. There were three different storylines with a colorful cast of characters. But there were 3 characters that stood out above the rest, (sort of making Miki main protagonist number four).

Nova Sky was number three. Nova is an Alvion, an ancient race that has literally watched over humanity in secret from the skies. An adventurous spirit who never backs down from a challenge, he dreams of venturing out into the world an proving his might to his disapproving father who is a major war hero. If you read my other stories, you'll find that he holds a major similarity to one of my other 2nd gen OC's, in the fact that Alvions are somewhat…..Avian. But before you call me a slacker for making a counterpart, here's the catch: Nova is by far the only Alvion in existence to be born without wings.

Number two was Simon Watson. Glasses here is the ideal otaku and one of the most profusive FanFiction writers out there (in his world anyway). He wants nothing more than to escape the harsh reality of high school. Then a visit from an old friend (who was much less imaginary than expected) shows that Simon's creativity and dreams have literally shaped worlds. At heart he's a Peter Pan discovering Neverland. However he can't run forever, because sooner or later, every dream comes with its nightmare, and the one place that you can never escape is your own mind!

But long before Miki woke in that field, long before Nova looked for redemption, and even longer before Simon looked to other worlds, Criss Nile terrorized the urban underground as Nightshade the Renegade. Like all superhero origins, Criss' tale starts in tragedy as his entire home city was wiped from the plane of existence and his parents and sister died shoving him out of their burning apartment inches before it could collapse on him. A lot to place on the shoulders of an eight year old, I know. He was rescued by a military response team and was raised at a military research lab for the next eight years. Then PLOT TWIST! The people who saved him not only destroyed his home, but did so in order to collect potential candidates for their own super soldier program without consequence. Now Criss out for revenge and on the run with a group of renegade super soldiers. Try as he might though, Criss has yet to learn that the most dangerous enemy of all was hiding and brooding in _every cell in his body_ from the moment he became a lab rat. How can you keep your comrades close when that is where danger had been all along?

Okay, that makes for possibly the longest AN I've ever written.

You all know the drill. If you like what you see, BLAST THAT LIKE BUTTON INTO OBLIVION AND BEYOND!

Until next time, this is Beowulf and the _entire_ OC Crew signing out!


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